Some Kind Of Monster
by Newland5X
Summary: COMPLETE! Grissom, Sara and Greg work a series of murders. I hate summaries. Let's see...expect some drama, angst...a little romance(GSR).
1. 1

**Disclaimer:** These characters aren't mine. The voices in my head say they're mine, but they lie a lot.

**A/N: **I wrote this story a couple months ago, so keep that in mind. This takes place between No Humans Involved and Who Shot Sherlock. A million thanks yous to Lady Kes and Cybrokat for beta-ing this fic. Any mistakes you find you can blame on me. :)

**Some Kind Of Monster**

_"…Until tomorrow. This is Nancy Grace for Court TV. Walk slow and hurry back, my friend."_

Sara angrily turned the TV off and threw the remote across the break room.

"What did that remote ever do to you?" Nick asked as he walked in.

Sara grinned at him sheepishly and replied, "Nothing."

He eyed her suspiciously for a moment and then said, "Let me guess…Court TV?"

Sara begrudgingly answered, "Yes."

"Doesn't Grissom have a rule that you're not allowed to watch Court TV at work? Especially about the Peterson trial? Which, judging by your mood, is probably what you were watching."

Sara let out a frustrated sigh. "That damn guy just gets to me. He's an evil, lying bastard who killed his pregnant wife. They should tie concrete anchors to him and toss him in the bay."

"Tell me how you really feel, Sara," Nick responded with a chuckle. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table across from Sara.

Sara took a sip out of her bottle of water and looked at her watch. "Hey, what are you doing here at this time of day? You're way too early for your shift."

Nick smiled smugly at her. "How early were you for work today? I was mid-shift when you showed up last night."

"I had paperwork to do. And you never answered my question."

Nick ran a hand over his face. "I couldn't sleep. This case we're on is just bugging the hell out of me. I figured I might as well come in and go over the evidence again."

Sara nodded and smiled before changing the subject, "So, how is the shift change going?"

Nick gave her a sad smile. "Well, it's going. I don't like it. I pretty sure Warrick hates it. Catherine just loves being in charge. It's just damn weird taking orders from her. She'll tell me to do something and I'll just shake my head at her, but then I remember she's my boss. It's an adjustment."

"I can't imagine how it must be for you guys," Sara said sympathetically, reaching across the table to lay a hand on top of Nick's. "I miss you guys."

"I miss you guys too. I miss the team. We were all so good together. It's just stupid to break us up. The five of us together…we're the best team of criminalists in the world."

Sara giggled. "You're getting just a tad far fetched there, Nicky." She patted his arm before pulling her hand back.

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew Sara and Nick's attention to the doorway. Grissom stood there leaning against the doorframe, a file in his hands. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Just catching up, boss…uh, Grissom…sorry," Nick replied.

Grissom smirked at Nick. "Technically I still outrank you, so you can still call me boss if you want."

Nick grinned at his former supervisor. "Uh, yeah. I don't think Catherine would like that too much if she heard about it. And you know her, she hears about everything."

"True. Well, I hate to break up your little reunion, but Miss Sidle, Mr. Sanders and I have a date with a dead body in the desert."

"Oooh! A threesome," Sara quipped, while rising from her chair.

Grissom shot her a disapproving look and said, "Meet me in my office in ten minutes." He turned to leave, but then turned back and looked at Nick. "Drop by my office when you have the time, Nick, so we can catch up."

"Sure thing, Griss." Nick watched Grissom's retreating form with a perplexed expression. He turned to Sara and asked, "Was that Gil Grissom?"

Sara shrugged. "I have no idea. It sure as hell looked like him. Didn't act like him though."

"You got that right."

Sara grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and slipped it on. "I better go round up Greg and get going. It was good to talk to you, Nick."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Give me a call one of these days…maybe we can all get together for a meal or something."

"Will do, Nick. See ya later." She patted him on the shoulder as she walked past him.

Nick looked around the empty break room and felt miserable. It hadn't been too long since the team was split, but he already hated it. What made each of them an exceptional investigator was the support of the others. Not that they needed the help of each other. It was just the fact that you worked with a team you knew you could trust with your life. A team you knew wouldn't screw anything up. _The best damn team of criminalists in the world, _he thought.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"What do we have, Jim?" Grissom asked as he passed under the crime scene tape, holding it up for Sara and Greg to pass through as well.

"Alyssa Byers, thirteen," Brass began, leading them to the body. "She was reported missing two days ago and found a few hours ago."

"Who found her?" Sara asked.

Brass stopped and turned, pointing to two teenaged boys standing by a patrol car. "Cheech and Chong over there came out here to watch for UFOs and stumbled upon her. Those kids are so stoned it took them five minutes to give us their names."

Grissom turned to look at Sara with a confused expression on his face. "Cheech and Chong?"

"I'll tell you later," Sara said with a laugh.

"I gotta warn ya," Brass said as he resumed his trek to the body. "This isn't the prettiest crime scene. It's really gruesome." He stopped a few feet from the small corpse and looked away with a grimace.

"Oh my God," Sara gasped. She set her kit down and slowly knelt down to look closer at the body.

Grissom set his kit down and turned to look at an unusually quiet Greg. He noticed the young man seemed a few shades paler than his normal color. Concerned, he asked, "You okay, Greg?"

Greg had been in a daze looking at the body, but snapped out of it when he heard his name. "Who could do something like this?" he asked no one in particular.

"If you're not gonna be able to handle this, Greg, I can send you to help Sofia on that burglary."

Greg shook himself in an attempt to focus and in a weak voice replied, "I can handle this." Clearing his throat, he continued in a stronger voice, "Just another crime scene, right?"

Grissom nodded at the young man. "If this becomes too much for you though, I want you to let me know."

"Will do," Greg replied. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves, pulled out his flashlight and began to search the ground around the body.

Grissom watched Greg for a few minutes before kneeling down next to Sara to get a closer look at the body. He had a grimace on his face as he examined the young girl. The body was half naked and the clothes that she did have on were torn and covered in blood. Her head was beaten so severely that her entire face was one big bruise. She had dozens of deep cuts all over her body and one of her hands had been cut off.

"Poor girl," Sara sighed. "This is horrific."

Grissom gently laid a hand on Sara's shoulder. "Are you going to be able to handle this?" he softly asked.

Nodding sadly, Sara answered, "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine." She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and stood. _There is no way in hell you're going to send me to work a burglary with Sofia, _she thought to herself. She walked over to check on Greg. "You got anything?"

"Nothing yet," Greg replied. He shined his light ahead of him a few feet. "Oh, wait! What is this? I think we got some tire tracks."

Sara smiled at him proudly. "Good find, Greg. Now let's cast them and keep looking."

Grissom watched Sara and Greg interact for a while, feeling like an outsider. He was interrupted from his observation by the arrival of David. Grissom stood and nodded a greeting to the young coroner. "David."

"Hello, sir," David greeted him kindly. David looked at the body and a bleak look passed over his face. "Oh, poor thing," he said quietly.

"What do you think, David?"

Examining the body, David answered, "I won't even guess at the cause of death, but due to the lividity…she was dumped here."

"Time of death?"

"Liver temp says about six hours ago."

Grissom looked at his watch. "Well, that makes it somewhere around one a.m." Grissom scratched his beard thoughtfully. "Thanks, David."

"We'll have her out of here in a few minutes."

"Okay." Grissom walked over to where Sara and Greg were now casting shoe prints. "The scene is yours."

Sara looked disbelievingly at him. "You're leaving?"

"I'm gonna head back in with the body. You two can handle this just fine."

Sara shot him a dirty look as he turned and headed for his Yukon. Shaking her head she returned to her task. She let out a little giggle when she heard Greg sigh, "Alone at last."


	2. 2

Thanks for the reviews. :)

A few hours after returning from the crime scene Grissom paged Sara and Greg, asking them to meet him in the conference room. They both arrived minutes later, files in hand. Grissom was sitting at the head of the table totally engrossed in the crime scene and autopsy photos. He didn't hear them enter the room and looked up startled when Sara dropped the file she was carrying on the table and took a seat to his left. Greg sat down tiredly in the seat to his right.

"What did you find at the scene?" Grissom asked, quickly getting to business.

Sara nodded to Greg, indicating that he should start. Greg cleared his throat and began, "We found a set of tire tracks, ran 'em and the results were inconclusive. We'll need a suspect's car to match. We found three sets of shoe prints. Matched two of 'em to the kids who found the body. The other set is from a pair of Justin boots-size ten. We also found two aluminum beer cans; pretty fresh…still had a little liquid in them. No prints. I gave the cans to Mia, she's working on getting DNA off them as we speak."

"Is that all?" Grissom asked, somewhat disbelieving.

"We went over that scene several times. There was nothing there," Sara defended. "If there had been any evidence, we definitely would have found it."

"Okay, I believe you." Grissom gave her a funny look.

"What did you find out in autopsy?" Greg inquired.

"Time of death was around one. The victim sustained some serious trauma; we counted thirty six deep cuts to her body…couldn't determine what was used—probably a knife, blunt force trauma to the head, her torso was covered in bruises, she had internal bleeding, her hand was cut off prior to her death. No sign of sexual assault."

"What's the official cause of death?" Sara asked, her voice cracking just slightly.

"Severe trauma. Doc couldn't decipher which injury was the exact cause of death…there were just too many factors."

The trio sat gravely quiet for a moment, all thinking about what the poor girl had experienced before she finally died. After a few minutes, Grissom cleared his throat and continued, "I recovered three blond hairs from the body, and skin from under her fingernails, they're in DNA. The vic was a brunette, so the hairs aren't hers. She had no defensive wounds, but she could have managed to scratch her attacker at some point. I talked to Brass an hour ago…he was on his way to inform the parents. He should be returning soon and then we get to question Cheech and Chong. He wanted to give them a few hours to sober up before we talked to them."

"So, we're at a standstill until the test results come back?" Greg asked.

"Yeah. Now can one of you explain to me Cheech and Chong?"

Greg tried to hide a smile, while Sara let out a small laugh. "You've never seen a Cheech and Chong movie?"

Grissom shook his head. "So, they're actors?"

"More like a comedy team. Their movies were all about smoking pot—real funny stuff," Sara replied.

"How is a movie about doing drugs funny stuff?" Grissom inquired, clearly baffled.

"You've obviously never been around any potheads," Greg cut in.

"I have a couple of their movies. You can watch them before you pass judgment on them," Sara said with a smirk.

"Will you be watching them with me?" Grissom asked, much to Sara and Greg's surprise. Greg and Sara looked at each other wide-eyed, before Greg quickly scrambled out of the room mumbling something about coffee.

Sara turned back to look at Grissom, who was looking at her expectantly, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Uh…I guess I could," she responded.

"Let me know when you have the time," Grissom said as he grabbed his files and left the room.

Sara, with brow furrowed, watched his retreating form with confusion and curiosity. After a moment she shook her head, grabbed her files and went in search of Greg.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

A few hours later…Meeting in the conference room once again, this time with Brass added into the mix, they filled each other in on any new information.

"How'd it go with the parents, Jim?" Grissom asked.

The captain let out a heavy sigh. "It was rough, it never gets any easier, you know. The mother was hysterical and the father…I don't think I've ever seen a man look so broken. The girl was an only child, straight A student, spent her free time doing charity work with her church. According to the father, she was very close to both parents—told them everything. She had a handful of friends from church and school, no boyfriends or crushes. I'm going to interview her friends this afternoon."

"What about the boys that found her?"

"They check out clean. They had been in Rachel visiting family for the past week; they got back to town at around 1:30 this morning. They snuck out after their parents went to bed, drove out to the desert, smoked some weed and went looking for flying saucers. There's no way they could have done this."

"What do you have, Sara?"

"I got your tox results, came back clean. The hairs you found were human, luckily one had a skin tag. Mia ran the DNA through CODIS. No match. The skin from under the vic's nails matched the hairs and Mia managed to get DNA off the beer cans which also matched."

"Okay. I got a page from Doc Robbins a little while ago. It seems he missed something during the autopsy. He sent me over some photos." Grissom passed the pictures around the table. "It wasn't hard to miss considering all the cuts on the body, but it appears that someone carved the word 'sinner' into her back."

"So, are you thinking this murderer had some kind of religious motivation?" Greg asked.

"I'm not thinking anything yet, Greg. We don't have much…and unless we can get any info from her friends, or until the killer strikes again…we have nowhere to go with the evidence we have. It's not like we can stop and question every guy wearing Justin boots and drinking Coors Light."

Brass let out a loud sigh. "Well, it's been fun, kids, but I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat before I go question the friends. Anyone want to join me?" Brass asked as he rose from his chair.

Greg shook his head, while Grissom answered, "No thanks, Jim."

Brass didn't even bother to ask Sara again, when he saw how absorbed she was in the case information laid out before her. He shook his head sadly as he walked out the door, thinking to himself that this was going to be one of _those_ cases for Sara.

Grissom looked at the tired faces of Sara and Greg and said, "You two should head home, shift ended hours ago and there's nothing more we can do."

"Good," Greg said. "I'm so tired. I'll see you guys tonight." He gathered up his things and disappeared down the hall.

Grissom eyed Sara for a moment, who was still engrossed in the case file. "You should go home. Get some rest," he said.

Without looking up, she responded, "Yeah, I will. Just give me a few minutes."

Reaching across the table, Grissom closed the file she was reading and softly said, "Go home, Sara. You need to get some rest. I have a feeling that this was victim number one, this killer is going to strike again and the next scene will probably be even more horrific. I need you on this case and I need you rested and clear headed."

Sara ran a hand through her hair and let out a miserable sigh. "Fine."

"Hey, Gil," Sofia called, leaning in the doorway. Grissom and Sara turned to look at her. "You ready?"

Grissom quickly glanced at Sara before responding, "Uh, yeah. Just give me a minute."

"Why don't you just meet me at the diner?"

He nodded. "Okay." And with that she was gone.

Suddenly feeling the need to be anywhere but in Grissom's presence, Sara quickly gathered up the papers and photos and shoved them into the file. She scooped up the file, grabbed her jacket and rushed for the door.

"Sara," Grissom called when she was almost out the door.

She never stopped walking. "I'm going home, Grissom."

He watched he leave and felt like a fool. Of course she would misinterpret that little exchange with Sofia. Sofia had asked him to have coffee outside of work to discuss something to do with Ecklie in private. Sure Sofia was a flirt, but he had no interest in her. His interest was in the woman who had just rushed out of the room, seemingly hurt and angry. _I've done it again, _he thought. _I'm trying to be more open to her and reach out to her more and I just end up hurting her again. When am I ever going to learn how to deal with her? _Thoroughly disgusted with himself, he left to meet Sofia.


	3. 3

Thanks for the reviews.

The next night found them at another crime scene of another tortured and murdered young girl. This time the body had been found near dumpster at a seedy motel on the outskirts of the city. Surveying the scene, Sara shook her head sadly. She turned to Brass and asked, "Any ID?"

"Yeah. She had a school ID on her…name's Rachel Langly, turned fourteen two weeks ago."

"Damn," Sara muttered.

"We really need to catch this bastard," Brass said tiredly.

"Yeah," Sara agreed. She watched as David examined the body.

"Time of death was at around one I'd say," David informed.

"Same as the last girl." Sara set down her kit and got to work processing the scene.

Grissom and Greg arrived just as David was wheeling the body to the coroner's van. David gave them a sad smile as he passed the pair. Walking up behind Sara, who was peering into a dumpster, Grissom asked, "Same guy, you think?"

Startled, Sara turned around quickly nearly hitting Grissom in the face with her flashlight. "Damn, Grissom! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry," he said as he took a step back. "Same guy?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I think so. She was beaten up pretty bad, had cuts all over her…" Sara closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Anything else?"

"She had both her hands, but one foot was cut off."

"Strange," Grissom said to himself. "What's the significance of cutting off body parts?"

"You tell me, Einstein. I work evidence, I don't try to figure out why people do the sick, twisted things they do."

"Touché, Miss Sidle," he said, his lips twisting up slightly. "Well, as for evidence…where do you want us?"

"You're asking me?"

"It's your case, your scene, Sara."

"Okay, then. Greg and I will work the area around where the body was, you take the perimeter."

Feeling Sara was exacting some small form of revenge, Grissom grabbed his kit and walked off to search the perimeter. _I deserve this, _he thought. _How many times have I sent her to the perimeter?_

Greg snapped on a pair of gloves and looked at Sara, his eyebrows raised in question. "What can I do for you?"

Smirking at the young man, Sara pointed to the dumpster. "You're going dumpster diving, my friend. Be sure to check all the cardboard around the thing first."

Greg saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Rachel Langly was never reported missing," Brass informed the CSIs. "Her parents, the poster-parents for family values," he said sarcastically, "didn't even realize she was gone. After a half hour of questioning, they realized that they hadn't seen or heard from her in two days. Those two were a piece of work, I tell you. Neither one of them shed a tear. Some people," he sighed sadly.

"Time of death was around one, same as the first vic," Sara started, taking her turn. "According to Doc Robbins, she bled to death from her injuries. She had the same head trauma, but not severe enough to kill her. We counted thirty-six deep cuts on her body, same as the first vic. Her foot was cut off prior to her death, that's where she lost all her blood. No sign of sexual assault. Tox screen was negative. And the word sinner was carved into her back."

"Any trace off the body?" Grissom asked.

Greg took his turn. "Sara pulled two blond hairs off the body, matched the DNA to the ones we recovered yesterday."

"The tire tracks I cast, matched the ones from the first scene," Grissom stated. "The treads were too worn to find a match in the computer."

"What about the friends?" Sara asked Brass.

"Alyssa's friends gave me nothing useful. She had no boyfriend, no one suspicious hanging around her. And it seems that Rachel had no friends. Talked to her teachers, said she was pretty much a loner, an outsider."

"Great," Sara groaned. "Two victims, no suspects and hardly any evidence."

"Well, let's go with what we have," Grissom said. "Greg, it's time for you and Brass to do some research."

Feeling optimistic about having something to do, Greg stood, grabbed his case file and said, "Research the dump sites, and go with Brass to question possible witnesses at the motel."

"Yes. Sara and I will work on linking the victims."

"Hey, I thought this was my case," Sara teased, after Brass and Greg had left the room.

"It is. I just figured I'd get everybody moving for you." He smiled sweetly at her.

"Well, let's get moving then," she said, opening up the file on the first victim. "Alyssa attended West Middle School."

Grissom opened the file in front of him. "Rachel went to Russell High School. Isn't that a continuation school?"

"I think so. Alyssa spent all her free time at church."

"We have no idea where Rachel spent her free time. From the father's statement it sounds like she was out in the streets a lot."

Sara grabbed the Rachel Langly file from Grissom and flipped through it. "These girls had almost nothing in common. The only similarities…gender, hair color, age, and the fact that they were murdered by some sick bastard."

"Yeah," Grissom sighed. He watched Sara study the files before her, her brows furrowed in deep concentration. He felt an odd sense of déjà vu. He suddenly realized that they were in this same position yesterday morning. The only thing different was that Sofia interrupted them the last time.

As if on cue, Sofia strolled into the room at that moment. "Grissom, do you have a minute? I could use your input on my case."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sara tense up a little. "Sure. Give me a few minutes."

Sofia smiled at him. "I'll be in the layout room waiting." She sauntered out of the room, looking back over her shoulder when she was at the doorway to get one more look at Grissom. She was hit with a strange feeling of jealousy when she saw how intensely her boss was watching Sara.

Sara knew that Grissom was staring at her. She raised an eyebrow, and without looking at him said, "You shouldn't keep a lady waiting, Grissom."

He looked at her curiously and responded, "She's not a lady, it's just Sofia."

Sara's other eyebrow went up. "I'm not even going to respond to that."

Grissom pursed his lips. "You want to grab some breakfast?"

Giving him her attention, she asked, "Now?"

"Well, after I get done helping Sofia. Shift's just about over."

"I kinda promised to take Greg out for breakfast, since I made him go dumpster diving tonight."

"He can come, too. My treat," Grissom offered. _Can't you see I'm trying?_ he thought to himself.

"I'll talk to him and get back to you," Sara said, returning her attention to the files laid out before her.

"Okay," Grissom replied. He stood, started for the door, hesitated a moment and then went in search of Sofia.


	4. 4

Two hours later found Brass and Greg waiting patiently for Sara and Grissom to join them at a small diner for breakfast. The CSIs entered the diner and immediately spotted the two men seated at a booth in the back. Grissom laid his hand lightly on Sara's back and led her to the table. Brass and Greg noticed them approaching and quickly slid over, giving them room to sit down. Sara fell tiredly into the booth next to Greg, while Grissom eased in next to Brass.

After the waitress had taken their orders, Grissom asked, "How'd it go at the motel?"

Brass let out a little chuckle. "You're not going to believe this. That sleazy place hasn't had any business in the last three days. I never thought I'd see the day when there would be a completely empty motel in Vegas. The night clerk didn't see or hear a thing. It seems he was napping most of the night. They have a camera in the office, so we pulled the tape and checked it out. He was out like a light from about midnight until three. He woke up, ordered a pizza, ate it and then took the garbage out…that's when he found the girl."

Grissom shook his head. "What about the dump sites?"

Greg took a sip of coffee, gave the cup a disgusted look and replied, "First site belongs to some company. Winston Enterprises. Motel is privately owned. There's no obvious link between the two. And before you ask, I managed to get lists of the employees from both places going back two years. No matches."

"Very good, Greg," Grissom complimented. "Well, Sara and I weren't able to find any links between the victims. Different schools, from different sides of town, different social circles."

Sara let out a frustrated sigh. "We're still nowhere…and I'll bet money that we'll be looking at the body of another dead girl tonight."

The three men nodded sadly in agreement and the group fell silent as the waitress arrived with their orders.

Greg excitedly pulled his huge plate over to him. "Oh, yeah! Come to Papa!" he said as he eyed the food. The plate was full with pancakes, eggs, hash browns, biscuits, gravy, sausage and bacon. He decided to start with the eggs and hungrily shoved a huge forkful into his mouth. The other three at the table sat watching him with a slight look of amusement.

"You gonna be able to eat all that?" Brass asked, while cutting into his chicken fried steak.

Through a mouthful of pancakes, Greg replied, "I'm starving, man."

Sara giggled at the young man while she spread some jam on her toast. Grissom silently watched her for a moment. The sound of her giggle was music to his ears and her small smile made his day a little brighter. He was starting to envy Greg's ability to lighten her mood. Forcing his mind off Sara and on to the details of their case, he took a bite of his omelet. He chewed slowly, thoughtfully, trying to figure out something more they could do.

Brass finally pushed his plate away with a happy groan. "That was the best chicken fried steak I have ever had." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and began to fish through it. "Well, I hate to skip out on you three early, but I need my beauty sleep."

"You've obviously been missing a lot," Greg teased, finishing the last of his bacon.

"Watch it there, kiddo. I may be older and uglier, but I can still kick your ass."

Greg put his hands up in surrender. "No more jokes."

"Put your wallet away, Jim. Breakfast is on me," Grissom said.

"I should let you know that just because you bought me a meal it doesn't mean I'm puttin' out." Brass let out a loud laugh at Grissom's horrified expression, which quickly morphed into a glare. "Scoot your ass over and let me out of this booth before I die from that look your giving me." Grissom stood and let Brass out. "See ya tonight, kids," he said as he walked away.

Grissom returned to his seat. He sat staring at the table, his brows furrowed in thought, a frown upon his face.

Seeing him, Sara asked, "What's wrong, Grissom?"

Looking up to meet her eyes, he replied, "This case. If the guy was smart and left us no clues it would be one thing, but he's sloppy and we still have nothing. It's an awful feeling to think that you're being outsmarted by a moron."

Sara flashed him a small smirk. "Moron?"

"He left shoe prints, tire tracks, beer cans with his DNA, hair and skin on the first victim. Tire tracks and hair on the second. If he was smart and planning this out, we wouldn't have found the little evidence we did find. He's acting on impulse. He sees a girl he likes, picks her up, keeps her and tortures her for two days and then kills her, dumping her body wherever he can. The only thing that seems to follow any kind of form is the torture."

"So, you think there will be another victim?" Greg asked.

"I think so. And I think that he'll soon want more from his victims."

"Sexual assault," Sara stated, her voice cracking just slightly.

Grissom nodded his answer. He was about to ask how she was handling the case when Sofia suddenly appeared at the table.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, not waiting for an answer before she scooted in right up against Grissom. He glanced sideways at her with a funny expression. He quickly scooted as far away from her as possible. It was a very uncomfortable situation considering who was across from him and considering the fact that if she had moved about two inches closer she would have sat on his lap.

"We were actually in the middle of something," Greg said, looking at Sara with a 'What the fuck?' expression. Sara's only response was an 'I don't know' shrug.

Not getting the hint, Sofia asked, "Were you discussing the case with the murdered girls?" She didn't wait for a reply as she continued, "Maybe I can help. You know, new eyes, fresh mind…"

"We have everything covered, but we'll be sure to let you know if we need your assistance," Sara said, plastering on one of the fakest smiles Grissom had ever seen.

Sofia didn't seem to catch the tone in which Sara spoke. Her statement didn't put her off one bit. The waitress appeared at the table with a coffee in a to-go container and set it in front of Sofia. "Well, I just stopped in here to grab a cup of coffee. I'll see you guys at work tonight." She looked Grissom up and down once before she left the table.

"What is with that chick?" Greg asked, peering out the window, watching her walk across the parking lot.

"I have no idea, Greg," Grissom replied.

"I mean she just comes in here and sits down without waiting for one of us to say it's okay…and she practically sits in your lap. And I think it was kind of insulting that she thought we needed help with our case," Greg rambled on. "You know, I've seen her in the lab when she's working with you. She's always all up in your personal space, or sitting on the table in front of you, or just outright flirting with you in front of God and everyone. She could use some classes in subtlety." Greg turned to Sara with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Sara, where did you learn all your subtle flirting skills?"

"It's a gift I was born with, Greg."

"What about you, Grissom? You're not too bad at the subtle flirting either."

"If it's so subtle, how do you know it's flirting?" Grissom inquired.

"Well, you see, when you've been around people for a while you just kinda pick up on things. If you only knew some of the things I've seen you and S—Owww!" Greg reached down and rubbed his leg where Sara had pinched him.

"That was a warning, Greg. You finish that statement and you'll be in real pain." Sara flashed him an evilly sweet smile.

Pouting at Sara, he mumbled, "Message received."

Grissom waved the waitress down and asked for the check. She left and quickly returned, sliding the piece of paper on the table as she walked by with a pot of coffee. Grissom looked over the bill and pulled out his wallet, he threw some cash on the table to cover the tip. "I'm going to head home. You two go home and get some rest," he said in a supervisory voice.

Sara followed him with her eyes as he walked over to pay the bill, and then as he walked out of the diner. Once he disappeared out the door she turned to find Greg smiling at her. "What?" she asked.

"You used to be a pro, Sidle, but that wasn't subtle at all," he teased.

Sara lightly punched him in the arm before she stood and slipped on her jacket. "See ya tonight, Greg."

Greg watched her leave the diner with a big smile on his face. After a moment, realization hit him and he jumped out of the booth and ran for the door. He caught Sara just as she was reaching her car. "Sara, wait!"

She turned and tried her best to fight a smile. She tilted her head down, looking at him over the top of her sunglasses. "Yes?"

Catching his breath, he responded, "You drove me here, remember? My sister's staying with me and has my car? So for the next few days you're my ride to and from work?"

Sara laughed. "I was waiting to see how long you'd sit there before you realized that."

"You're evil, Sara," Greg pouted as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"You want to walk?"

"Okay, you're not evil. You're the most wonderful, beautiful person I know. That better?"

"Well, it's a start," she replied as she pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed for Greg's house.


	5. 5

Thanks for the reviews. All reviewers deserve a hug. :)

The third victim was found on the shore of Lake Mead. Brass and Sara were the first on the scene. Sara shook her head sadly as she watched David examining the body. The crime scene was eerily quiet, no one said a word, and even Mother Nature seemed tuned down by this horrible scene.

Grissom and Greg arrived, finally breaking the silence. They walked up to stand beside Sara and watched David. "Same guy?" Grissom asked quietly.

"Yes."

David stood and waved the CSIs over. Grissom knelt next to the body and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. Sara knelt down on the other side and shined her flashlight on the girl's face. She whipped her head around quickly when she heard Greg gasp and say, "Oh, my God!" He put his hand over his mouth and turned away quickly.

"If you're going to puke, get away from the scene, Greg," Grissom said harshly.

Greg dropped to his knees and Sara was at his side in an instant. She pulled him up and walked him away from the crime scene. He managed to keep from vomiting until they were a safe distance away. He dropped to his hands and knees and emptied his stomach. Sara dropped to her knees next to him and rubbed his back soothingly. His stomach finally gave up the last of its contents and he sat back on his feet. He was breathing heavily and Sara was worrying that he might hyperventilate.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

He just shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.

"What got to you, Greg? This scene is no different than the other two." She looked at him curiously when she saw a few tears slide down his face. "What's wrong, Greg?" she asked, gently grabbing one of his hands.

"That girl…she…looks…my sister…" he choked out.

"What?"

Slowly calming down, he tried to explain. "She looks just like my sister."

"That can't be her, Greg. Isn't she staying with you?"

"Yeah, but when I got home from work there was a note saying that she went out to meet up with some friends. I haven't seen or heard from her in almost two days."

"Stay right here, Greg. I'll be right back."

Sara returned to the taped off area, looking for Brass. Grissom stopped her as she walked by him and asked, "What in the hell is wrong with him?"

Sara felt the anger start to build. She took a deep breath before she answered his question. "I don't know, Grissom. Could it be the fact that that dead girl laying right there looks just like his sister who he hasn't seen or heard from in two days?"

"His sister?"

"Yes, sister. You know, sibling, someone who had the same parents as you. Sister. Greg has sister."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I-"

Sara cut him off. "Do we have an ID?"

"No."

"I'm sending Greg back to the lab, or home…unless you have a problem with that?"

"If this is his sister, he can't work the case. Have one of the officers take him," Grissom replied. Showing that he wasn't completely heartless he added, "Don't let him come over here and look. No one should have to see someone they love like this."

Some of her anger with him faded away and she laid a hand on his shoulder for a second before making her way back to Greg.

"You feeling any better?" she asked as she squatted down next to Greg.

"Well, I don't feel like I'm going to puke anymore. And I'm not hyperventilating…so I guess I'm a little better." He dropped his face in his hands and asked through his fingers, "Is it her?"

Sara reached out and pulled one of his hands away and held it in hers. "We don't know. There was no ID. Have you tried to call your sister?"

"She left her cell at my house. I don't know who her friends are or any of their numbers. I have no idea where she could be."

Sara squeezed his hand. "We're gonna have an officer take you back to the lab, or home…whichever you want."

"Home," he managed to squeak out, tears starting to pool in his eyes.

"Okay," Sara said softly. She slowly stood and helped Greg get to his feet. She released his hand, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and walked him towards the patrol car. She helped him into the car, told the officer where to take him and to make sure to escort him into his home. She stood and watched as the taillights disappeared into the night. She let out a ragged breath and returned to help Grissom process the scene.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"We got an ID on the victim," Sara said as she breezed into Grissom's office.

"Well, judging by the relieved look on your face, I assume that it's not Greg's sister," Grissom responded.

"Brenda Skinner, fifteen, reported missing two days ago. I was just with Brass and her parents. They ID'd her."

"What kind of info do we have on her?"

"She went to Las Vegas high, cheerleader, tons of friends, steady boyfriend, worked nights at Fast Burger and babysat on the side. She was reported missing after she didn't return from her babysitting job. I talked to the detective who worked the missing person's case—a dayshift case. He said they questioned her friends, teachers, neighbors, and coworkers and came up with nothing. Dayshift CSIs also came up empty."

"What did Doc have to say?" Grissom asked, leaning back in his chair giving her his full attention.

"Time of death was around one, same as the other two. She was strangled to death…ligature marks on her neck suggest he used some kind of braided rope, though there were no fibers in the wound. She had the 36 cuts and the word sinner carved into her back. Her tongue was cut off. She had defensive wounds on her hand and skin under her nails. I'm waiting on the test results. Her face wasn't beaten as badly as the first two, but there was a boot print on her face. Matched it to the prints from the first scene. I also found another blond hair."

"Sexual assault?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "What do you have?"

"Boot prints match the ones from the first scene. Tire tracks are also a match. No prints on the beer can we found, but it is the same brand as the ones you recovered from the first scene. The chewing gum you found is with Mia. She promised that our stuff gets priority."

"Not that it's going to matter much. We have no suspect," Sara said, defeated.

Mia knocked on the open door and asked, "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No. Come on in," Grissom replied.

Mia entered the office and handed the lab results to Sara. "I ran the semen from the rape kit, saliva from the cans and gum, the hair and the skin sample…all from the same person, and DNA matches from the first two cases."

"Thanks, Mia," Sara said, studying the papers.

"Wish I had more for you, some way to catch this guy," Mia said as she left the room.

"Have you talked to Greg?"

Sara slipped the lab results into the case file and looked up at Grissom. "Yeah, just before I came to see you. I told him the vic wasn't his sister. He still hasn't heard from her though."

"How old is she?"

"Nineteen. Hopefully she's just out being a rebellious teenager or something. I'd hate to see someone I care about go through something like their sister being tortured and murdered."

"Maybe we can put an APB out on her," Grissom thought out loud. "Have the cops keep an eye out for Greg's car."

Sara's expression softened as she regarded him. She suddenly felt guilty for snapping at him. He was actually sitting here thinking about someone other than himself. Sara felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry I snapped at you at the scene," she said so softly that Grissom almost didn't hear her. Almost.

"I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I should have asked what was going on first," he responded.

Sara flashed him a small smile. "Okay, let's just consider ourselves forgiven."

Grissom let out a quiet chuckle. They looked at each other a long moment before Grissom asked, "What are you doing after work?"

Sara moved her head side to side, trying to get the kinks out her neck. She looked up at the ceiling and answered, "Going to check on Greg and then going home." She looked back at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"I thought that maybe if you weren't busy or tired…that you might want to watch one of those Cheech and Chong movies."

Sara was surprised by his suggestion and before she could reply Grissom's phone rang. He quickly answered it and she watched his face take on an annoyed expression. She heard several 'Yes's and no's and okay's' before he tiredly hung up the phone.

"That couldn't have been a good call."

"Well, if you were planning on say yes to my offer, you're now off the hook. I have a mandatory meeting with the sheriff and Ecklie."

"Sucks to be you," Sara teased.

"You know, most of the time it does suck to be me," he replied seriously.

"Don't get to feeling sorry for yourself in front of me. You'll get no sympathy."

Grissom let out a heavy sigh and stood. "I have to go. Maybe some other time we can…"

"Yeah, maybe some other time," Sara replied as she made her way to the door.

"Tell Greg he can have the night off if his sister still hasn't showed up. And tell him if he needs anything he can call me."

"Will do," Sara whispered, heading down the hall. Grissom watched her walk away the whole time hating his position as supervisor. The job was always coming between him and Sara. He begrudgingly went to meet the sheriff and the assistant director.


	6. 6

Thanks for the reviews.

The next night Grissom entered the break room catching the tail end of Greg's story.

"…I shook her so hard, I probably gave her shaken teenager syndrome, or something," Greg was saying.

"There's no such thing as shaken teenager syndrome, Greg," Sara replied.

"Well, whatever. I yelled at her, shook her some more and then grounded her."

"You grounded your nineteen year old sister?" Grissom asked, taking a seat at the table.

Greg smiled. "Yes. She's not allowed to leave my house unless I'm with her. And I'm sending her back home to my parents early. She was pissed when I informed her of that little fact. Mom and Dad weren't too happy when I told them that she disappeared on me with a twisted killer on the loose."

"Glad I'm not your sister," Sofia said.

"Not half as glad as I am," Greg mumbled into his coffee cup. Sofia didn't appear to have heard him. If she did, she made no comment.

Sara, on the other hand, heard Greg's comment. She had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from busting out laughing. She looked down for a moment to get a handle on herself, before turning her attention to Grissom. "What's up, Grissom? How did your meeting go?"

"The Sheriff and Ecklie decided that it would be a good idea to alert the media that there is someone out there abducting and murdering teenage girls," Grissom informed his team. "So now the public's aware that we have three dead girls…and of course the pressure is now on us to solve this case quickly."

"Great. Did you inform them that we have nothing to go on?" Sara asked.

"I told them everything. The sheriff was understanding, said they were going to increase the number of patrol cars on the street. Ecklie however was…Ecklie. He tried to insinuate that we were incompetent, Atwater stood up for us though. I don't think the sheriff cares much for the new assistant director's ways of handling things."

"Unless he royally screws up, or someone catches him in the act, I don't see how we're going to catch this guy," Greg commented.

"Let's go over the case files again, go over the evidence again, look at the photos again and compare the victims again…let's see if we can find anything," Grissom said. "We have one new case tonight, a 419 found in an abandoned apartment complex." Grissom handed the assignment slip to Sofia. "You're solo. Sara, Greg, we'll be working on trying to find something on these murders. If we get another case though, you'll have to take it."

"Okay," Sara replied. "Greg and I will start by going over the photos."

"Alright, everyone, let's get to work."

Sofia headed off to her crime scene, while Sara, Greg and Grissom began to go over their case once again.

Forty-five minutes later, Grissom's concentration was broken by the ringing of his cell phone. "Grissom," he answered gruffly.

_"Gil, you need to round up the kids and get over here,"_ Brass said.

"Over where?"

_"Sofia's crime scene. It's our guy again," _he informed.

"I just sent Sara and Greg to work a burglary. Damn! Tell Sofia not to touch anything until we get there," Grissom said as he grabbed his keys and jacket. "I'll be there in ten minutes." Without waiting for a reply, Grissom ended the call. He slipped on his jacket, grabbed his field kit and hit Sara's number on speed dial as he made his way out of the building.

The phone rang three times before he heard, _"Sidle."_

"Have you made it to your scene yet?"

_"No. Why?"_

"Sofia's DB turned out to be another one of our victims. I need you and Greg to head over there right now." Grissom hopped in his Yukon and started the engine. "I'll be there in about ten minutes."

_"Okay. It will probably take us about ten minutes to get there too."_

"See you there." Grissom ended the call and pulled the truck out into traffic, driving a lot faster than usual.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Brass cleared his throat for about the hundredth time since hanging up with Grissom. He had informed Sofia that she was not to touch anything, but every few minutes she'd start to do something and he'd have to clear his throat to get her attention. She finally threw her hands up in surrender, somewhat disgusted with standing on the sidelines.

Sara and Greg arrived before Grissom and were led by an officer through the complex and to the room where the young girl's body was found. There they were met with an impatient Sofia and an annoyed Brass.

"Same guy, huh?" Sara asked as she came to a stop next to Brass.

"It appears so," he stated.

Sara set down her kit next to the body and pulled out her flashlight. She knelt down to get a closer look. "Where's David?"

"Right here," a voice said from the doorway. He slowly made his way into the room. "Oh, no. Not another one," he sighed. He knelt down next to the young girl and began his work.

Sara left David alone to do what he had to do and started to look around the abandoned apartment. Sofia watched her with frustration. She finally had had enough and turned to Brass. "Why does she get to look around while I have to just stand here?"

Brass just shrugged. "Boss's orders?"

"It's her case, that's why," Grissom said coming through the doorway.

"I thought this was my case," Sofia whined. "_You _gave it to me."

"It was your case when it was just another dead body, but now it's Sara's case. She's handled every one of these dead girls and she's handling this one," Grissom said, getting slightly agitated.

"Yeah, what good that has done," Sofia mumbled. "She can't even find enough evidence to get a suspect."

That did it for Grissom. Sofia had just crossed the line. No one talked about Sara like that to him. No one. He couldn't really tell her what he wanted to tell her without using rather unprofessional language, so instead he stated a few facts. "Sara is the most thorough investigator I have ever worked with and the most dedicated. She doesn't quit. She has the best solve rate on night shift. Hell, she has the best solve rate in the whole lab. She's never screwed up a case and ninety nine percent of the time she catches the bad guys." Suddenly Grissom felt five sets of eyes staring at him in disbelief. He ignored them and continued, "I want you on the burglary in Henderson."

"You're not serious?" Sofia huffed.

"I'm deadly serious," Grissom said coldly. "And if you have a problem with my choices as supervisor, you can always quit."

"Or file a complaint," she threatened as she gathered her kit and left the scene.

"Smooth, Gil, real smooth," Brass remarked.

Grissom glared at Brass and turned to Sara and Greg, who were still staring at him in disbelief. "Let's get this scene processed. You guys take this room and I'll check out the rest of the building."

Sara and Greg could only nod, their voices seemingly lost at the moment. Brass waited a few minutes after Grissom left the room before he commented; "I've never seen him like that."

"Me either," Sara mumbled as she lifted a print from the doorknob.


	7. 7

"What do we know about Charlene Burks?" Grissom asked Brass. Sara and Greg turned their attention to the police captain.

"Sixteen, went to Vegas High, B student, a few friends, no boyfriend and she was active in some paranormal phenomena club at school. She worked after school at Replay Records. That's where she was last seen. She left work at around 6:15 two days ago. When she didn't come home, her parents called her work and after speaking with her boss they reported her missing. Parents said she was very dependable…if she said she was going to be somewhere, she'd be there. That's why they were so worried; the day she went missing was her little brother's birthday. She was supposed to help her mother with his party."

"What about the body?" Grissom directed the question to Sara.

"She was beaten up pretty good, just like the others. She had the 36 cuts and the word sinner carved into her back. She was raped, repeatedly." Sara stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and continued, "Her eyes were cut out." Sara looked down at the table trying to fight the emotions that were battling to come to the surface. This case was starting to really get to her. She wanted nothing more than to find this guy and show him the same kind of torture he inflicted on his victims.

Grissom gave Sara a concerned look, before directing his next question to Greg, "Evidence?"

"The boot prints you found matched, same with the tire tracks you found behind the building. That dried grass you found on top of the tire tracks was alfalfa. Sara also found some alfalfa on the body. She found a few blond hairs too, which matched the previous ones. Semen also matched. Same guy did all four murders and if we can ever get a suspect, we'll have enough evidence to put him away."

"What about the print you lifted from the doorknob?"

"It was only a partial. Jacqui's working on it as we speak. She said not to hold out hope though, she didn't have much to work with," Sara informed.

The group fell quiet for a moment, every one wracking their brains trying to figure this case out. Grissom broke the silence. "Okay, let's lay this out. First victim was 13, second was 14, third was 15 and the last one was 16."

"You think the next one is going to be 17?" Greg asked, trying to follow Grissom's line of thinking.

"No. I think that's just a coincidence. He's obviously after teenaged girls. He'd have to have some knowledge of the victims for this to be that planned out. Dump sites seem to be places of convenience, where there will be no people around—the desert, a sleazy motel on the outskirts of town, Lake Mead and an abandoned apartment complex."

Sara picked it up. "All victims were severely beaten, had body parts removed, had the word sinner carved into them, the same 36 cuts…I'm still curious as to the significance of the cuts and the word sinner. What's the killer's reason for doing that?"

"It seems to be his signature, but that's pretty much the only thing that he's done exactly the same on all the victims. The first two weren't raped, the last two were…a different body part was removed from each vic. He likes to beat them up, but the first vic was beaten more severely than the others…and in each new victim the beatings are slightly less severe. He's learning to control his rage," Grissom said.

Greg decided to jump in on the conversation. "We have blond hairs found on every vic. So our killer's probably a blond, the hairs show no sign of being dyed, so he's a natural blond. We found tire tracks at every scene, not from a car…probably a pickup or SUV. Boot prints, size 10. Coors Light cans from the desert scene and Lake Mead. And alfalfa from this last scene."

"We're looking for a cowboy," Brass stated.

Three faces turned to him in surprise. "How do you figure?" Greg asked.

"Tire track from possibly a pickup, boot prints, beer cans and alfalfa? Sounds like a cowboy to me," Brass replied.

"So, should we put out an APB for John Wayne?" Greg asked in a teasing voice.

Brass looked appalled. "The Duke would never do something like this. But I am gonna tell the boys to watch for blond cowboys driving around in pickup trucks. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of our officers will catch him in the act. That's all I can do until we get a suspect."

"Well, that's all we can do for now," Grissom said, closing the case file in front of him.

"Yeah," Brass sighed as he stood. "I'll see you three tonight. I've got a ton of paperwork to do before I head home." He slipped on his jacket as he made his way out the door.

Grissom let out a heavy sigh as he looked across the table at Sara and Greg. Greg seemed tired; he had his elbow on the table and his face leaning against his palm. Sara, on the other hand, was totally engrossed in the case files laid out before her. He studied her for a few moments. She had a serious expression on her face, her brows furrowed, her mouth set in a frown. The dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale skin. Somehow she looked thinner than usual. He noticed her hands shaking as she reached out to pick up a pile of photos.

It was time for a talk, he decided. Grabbing his files, he stood and asked, "Sara, can I speak to you in my office?"

_Great! What have I done now? _She thought. "Sure."

"Greg, catch up on your paperwork," he said as he led Sara out of the room.

Grissom held the door open for Sara as they entered his office. He waited until she was seated before he closed the door and took his own seat behind his desk.

"What did you need to speak to me about?" she asked, cautiously.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Is that all?" she asked, slowly rising from her chair. She fell back in her seat when he answered, "No."

"How are you handling this case?" he asked softly.

"Fine," she replied, annoyed.

"You don't look fine."

"Thanks," she said dryly. "Did you bring me in here to insult me?"

"No. I'm sorry…I just meant…you don't look like you've had much sleep."

"I…sleep," she replied. "Just not as much as most people."

"Sara, you need to take better care of yourself. You can't let the cases get to you."

"Not this again!" She let her head fall back and looked at the ceiling. In a mocking voice she continued, "Sara, you need to find a diversion, get a life. You know, Grissom, I've heard all this shit before."

"Sara-" Grissom began, but Sara quickly cut him off.

"What in the hell do you want from me?" she asked angrily, finally making eye contact again. "I do my job and I'm damn good at it. What I do outside of work has never interfered with my performance. So what if I get a little emotionally involved sometimes? I'm human! I can't help it! And like you told Sofia, I've never screwed up a case and I'm not about to start now."

"There's a first time for everything, Sara. And this cannot be the case where you make a mistake, or slip up. It's too high profile. I wouldn't be able to cover for you. We're under the microscope here. People are watching."

"You're not taking me off this case?"

"If it starts to be too much for you, I will," he said, in a grave voice. "Sara, I don't want to pull you off this case. I want you to take better care of yourself—get more sleep, eat more…relax a little. I don't want you turning into me."

"Ah, yes. The graveyard shift supervisor of the number two lab in the country is such a horrible thing to become," she replied sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why did you defend me to Sofia earlier if you were thinking about pulling me?"

"She was way out of line. No one should question your abilities."

Sara let out a humorless laugh. "That's what you're doing right now."

"I'm not questioning your abilities. I never would. I'm just concerned. I don't want to lose you…I've already lost the rest of my team…you're all I have left."

"I don't believe you. It all comes down to the lab, doesn't it? Some things never change…no matter how much you want them to." She didn't wait for a reply. She quickly jumped out of the chair and stormed out of the office. She quickly made her way out of the building, passing people who didn't even bother to ask how she was or why she was leaving so quickly. Everyone already knew the answer—Grissom.

Greg caught a glimpse of her as she breezed past the break room. He got up to catch her, but she was already down the hall and turning a corner before he made it into the hall. He decided to take a risk and go ask Grissom what was wrong with her.

Greg nervously knocked on Grissom's open door to get his attention. Grissom looked up hoping to see Sara, his guilty feeling doubled when he saw only Greg. "What do you need?" he asked in his supervisor voice.

Greg shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I, uh…was just wondering why Sara was in such a hurry to get out of here. I only caught a glimpse of her, but she seemed upset."

Grissom didn't really want Greg around right now. He looked down at his desk and pretending to do paperwork, Grissom replied, "You'll have to ask Sara."

Grissom didn't see the dirty look Greg gave him. "I will." Grissom looked up and saw nothing but an empty doorway.


	8. 8

Thanks for the reviews. I'm going to warn you...you may not like this chapter, but just remember it's all leading to something. ;)

-

Greg found Sara sitting against the wall behind the building. He cautiously approached her and slid down the wall to sit next to her. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head hanging. She had her left hand in her hair and the other was hanging over her right knee holding a lit cigarette.

"Sara," Greg began carefully, "are you alright?"

She let out a humorless laugh. "Would you believe me if I said I was fine?"

Greg relaxed a little. "Probably not."

"Then no…I'm not alright," she replied somberly.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he gently asked.

Sara looked up, staring straight ahead; she flicked her cigarette into a puddle and wrapped both of her arms around her legs. "I think I'm beyond help, Greg…but thanks for asking."

"I know this case is pretty horrible. I know I'm having a hard time with it. I just want you to know that…I'm here for you…you know, if you need me…to talk or something…or listen…or whatever."

"You're babbling."

"I'm sorry. It's just that sometimes you make me nervous." Greg hung his head shyly.

A small smile crept onto Sara's face as she turned to look at him. She rested her head on her arms and looked at him for a long moment. "Why would you get nervous around me?" she finally asked.

Greg turned his head to the right, looking away from her. "Aside from the fact that you're sometimes intimidating to fumbling, rookie CSIs?"

"Aside from that."

"I…

"You?" she prodded.

"I…"

Sara reached over and gently turned Greg's face towards her. She waited until he looked into her eyes, before she asked again, "You, what?"

He glanced down for a second, realizing her hand was still on his face. He looked back into her eyes. "I…like you, Sara."

She smiled sweetly at him. "You see, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

He let out a breath. "You have no idea."

Greg felt a strange shift and noticed the smile slowly fade from Sara's lips. He felt her cool fingers move smoothly over his cheek. His heartbeat suddenly sped up. _She's looking at my mouth. Do I have something in my teeth? Her face is getting closer to mine. Why is she getting so close to me? _Alarm bells sounded in his head, as he felt her breath on his face. Sara was going to kiss him. Summoning up all the willpower he had, he pulled his head back slightly and managed to squeak out, "Sara…"

She only shushed him and quickly closed the distance between them, and at first he was too shocked to do anything, but after realizing that Sara Sidle was indeed kissing him, he gave in to the moment, figuring that it would probably never happen again and he might as well enjoy it while it lasted. After a couple quick pecks and a few longer kisses, Greg reluctantly pulled away. He opened his eyes to find Sara smiling at him. She dropped her hand from his face and turned to stare straight ahead again.

"Uh…I…uh…you…we…wow." Greg was finding it very hard to speak coherently.

"That's the first time I ever left a guy speechless," Sara teased.

Greg just looked at her wide-eyed. _Sara just kissed me. I just kissed Sara. I just kind of made out with Sara. Nobody will ever believe this. _A goofy grin slowly appeared on Greg's face. Sara glanced at him and started to giggle. He looked so adorable all goofy and speechless. A playful glint appeared in Sara's eyes and she reached over and pinched him.

"Oww! What did you do that for?" he asked, the goofy grin leaving his face.

"I was just proving to you that you weren't dreaming," Sara explained. "Did I hurt poor wittle Gweggy?"

He shot her a glare. "I think I'll survive a pinching. You may have to kiss it and make it better, though." He waggled his eyebrows at her, his old self returning.

Sara let out a chuckle. "I think I've done enough kissing on company time for now." She slowly stood and reached a hand out to help Greg up. He took her hand and pulled himself up beside her. "We should get back to work. We need to catch this bastard."

Greg nodded. "Okay. I'm with you one hundred percent."

Sara started to walk back inside but stopped and turned to face Greg. "About that little make out session…" she began.

"Yeah. About that. I'm sorry. It will never happen again."

"Don't apologize, Greg. I made the first move. I should apologize. It was inappropriate of me to do that, especially at work."

"You don't hear me complaining, and besides…we're out here in the back…no one's around, no one saw us. It will be our little secret. Our little, hot, amazing, wonderful, beautiful, erotic secret."

"Now you're pushing it, Buster!" she laughed.

Turning serious, Greg softly said, "Don't worry, Sara. I won't tell anyone…and if you ever get the uncontrollable urge to repeat it, let me know." He winked at her and walked past her and entered the building. Amused, Sara shook her head and followed him inside.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Sara grabbed a bottle of water out of the break room fridge. She turned the TV to the news and took a seat on the couch. She took a sip of water and nearly choked on it when she saw what was on the television. The reporter was standing right outside of the lab and none other than Sofia Curtis was standing behind her. Sara quickly punched in Grissom's number and before he could utter a word, she said, "Break room, now!" She hit the end button on her phone and threw it on the seat beside her.

Grissom came flying through the door in seconds. He was out of breath as he asked, "What's going on?'

Sara shushed him as she turned up the volume.

_"This is Maria Vasquez reporting live from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, where they're hard at work to catch the Slice N Dice killer. We're here with a criminalist from the graveyard shift, who has offered to answer some of our questions. Miss Curtis, thank you for speaking with us."_

_"It's my pleasure, Maria."_

_"What can you tell us about this case?"_

_"Our team is working tirelessly to catch this guy. Each victim was found with numerous cuts on their body and every one was missing a body part. They were beaten up pretty severely and raped. The word sinner was also carved into the back of each victim."_

_"Do you have any suspects?"_

_"No. The team has found very little evidence…they've only managed to collect tire tracks, shoe prints, a few hairs, a piece of gum and a few beer cans."_

_"Are you saying that there will be more murders before this guy is caught?"_

_"Until the team can find evidence that points them to a suspect, the murders will continue."_

_"Well, there you have it. Just a reminder to keep your kids close to home until this killer is caught. Back to you, Martin."_

Sara stared at the TV in open-mouthed shock. "She did not just tell all of Las Vegas that? What in the hell is she thinking? Is that her way of getting back at us?" Sara finally looked over at Grissom, who was standing stock still, the shock apparent from his expression. "Grissom?"

Grissom snapped out of if and dropped down onto the couch next to Sara. He dropped his head into his hands and mumbled over and over, "This is not happening."

"I guess I'm looking pretty good right now, huh? Especially compared to that," she said, waving towards the television.

"I have to do some serious damage control," Grissom said, rising from his seat. "I don't have the time for this." He hurried out of the room.

"You never do," Sara whispered to the empty room.


	9. 9

Thanks for the reviews. And I promise we'll eventually get to some GSR, but...you know the characters have to suffer a little before they get together. So if you still reading this just bear with me for a few more chapters. :)

-

Dealing with the aftereffects of Sofia's immediate dismissal, Grissom had to carry most of the caseload while Sara and Greg continued to work on what the media had named the _Slice N Dice_ murders. Which confused the CSIs, because the victims were sliced, but they weren't really diced.

The next three nights found Sara and Greg at three new crime scenes with three more dead girls.

Daisy Bruckman, age fourteen, was found in an empty lot in the bad part of town. She had endured the same torture as the previous girls and her ears had been cut off. The scene just like the others—the only evidence recovered being tire tracks, boot prints and hairs from off the body.

Holley Modell, age nineteen, was found in the desert by some kids riding their motorcycles. The only thing different about her murder was the fact that her leg had been cut off. Other than that little detail, the scene and murder were just like the others.

Emily Pendrell, age thirteen, was found in the desert, not too far from where the first victim was found. The other criminals of Vegas seemed to have taken the night off, so Grissom was able to assist Sara and Greg in processing the scene.

"Time of death was around one," David said.

"I am getting real tired of this shit," Sara growled. "Seven dead girls and we have nothing."

"I know," Greg said. "And every scene is so similar. It's kind of like that Groundhog Day movie. It's like we're investigating the same scene over and over again and we've yet to get it right."

"Well, if it's just like the other scenes, I'm sure there's some tire tracks and boot prints around here somewhere…"

"I'll find 'em," Greg replied, quickly getting to work.

"Where do you want me?" Grissom asked Sara, somewhat sweetly.

_I want you standing right here with your arms around me. _Of course her actual reply was, "Do you mind taking the body and the area around it?"

"I don't mind." Grissom didn't need to ask why she was asking him to do what usually was her chosen duty on this case. The look in on her face told him all he needed to know. This was becoming too much for her and if they didn't catch this guy soon, this case just might break her.

He watched her for a long moment as she searched the ground with her flashlight. Finally unable to deal with the emotions he was feeling while watching her, he got to work. He decided to try to speak with her again when they got back to the lab, hoping that their conversation wouldn't turn out as badly as the last time he had tried to speak with her. He began to map out the conversation in his head while he processed the scene.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Emily Pendrell went to Fremont Middle School. She was a straight A student, president of the science club, volunteered at the library; a real bookworm…took summer school classes for fun. Parents said she was very shy and quiet…didn't have many friends. The original missing persons case was handled by swing shift—Warrick and Catherine worked it…came up with zilch." Brass leaned back in his chair and took a sip of coffee. "Warrick said he's gonnacome in early to fill you guys in. But don't expect much. He and Detective Spender must have interviewed a hundred people on that case."

Grissom ran a hand over his face. "Cause of death was asphyxia. Ligature marks suggest a braided rope. She had bruising on her body. She was beaten pretty badly. She had the same 36 cuts and the word sinner…no surprise there. Signs of sexual assault and her lips were cut off."

"The hairs you found on the body were a match," Greg said. "The Coors Light can I found had no prints, but Mia managed to get DNA off it. And do I really need to say that it matched?" Grissom gave him a chiding look. "DNA matches."

Sara cleared her throat as she took her turn. "Tire tracks match the previous ones. What a shocker," she said sarcastically. "Boot print also matches. I found alfalfa near the tire tracks. And the bonus piece of evidence, on which Jacqui is working on getting a print, was a cassette tape-_George Strait's Greatest Hits. _Country music…I think Brass may have been right—we're looking for a country boy."

"Millions of people listen to country music, Sara. And a lot of them aren't cowboys or country boys," Grissom remarked.

"I realize that," she replied. "But look at the evidence. Tire tracks from a pickup, boot prints, beer cans, alfalfa, a rope was used to strangle the last few girls and country music. I'm getting a country vibe. I mean, how many people do you know have alfalfa in their vehicle?"

"The alfalfa could just be coincidental," Greg said.

"It was found at the last four scenes. It came from the killer," Sara replied.

"Can we beef up patrols in the rural areas?" Grissom asked Brass.

Brass downed his coffee and stood. "I'll see what I can do." He leisurely made his way out of the room.

Grissom looked at the white board, which held all of the victim's information on it. The board was almost full with the information on the six dead girls. He then looked at the other board, which was practically empty—they had next to no information on their killer. He then looked at Greg. "Greg, why don't you put Emily Pendrell's information up on the board?"

"I'll get right on it," he replied.

As Greg got to work, Grissom turned his attention to Sara. "May I speak with you in my office?"

_Here we go again, _she thought. "Sure."

"How are you doing?" he asked after she had taken a seat. Before she could answer, he added, "I'm asking as a friend."

"As a friend?" she asked confused.

"Yes."

"I'm doing fine," she answered cautiously.

"Sara-"

She cut him off. "If this is going to turn out like the last time you brought me in here, I just want to stop it right now."

Grissom held a hand up. "It won't. I promise."

"Good. I hate being mad at you,' she admitted.

"I hate when you're mad at me," he laughed. "And I hate to argue with you."

"That's because you're usually wrong and I'm usually right," she replied smugly.

Grissom gave a snort. "That was a good one. You got any more jokes in your routine?"

"Do you know why Mickey Mouse wanted a divorce from Minnie Mouse?" she asked seriously.

Grissom gave her a funny look. "Why?"

"Because she was fucking Goofy."

That made Grissom laugh and Sara giggled along with him. His laughter subsiding and eyes twinkling, he asked, "What's the difference between a college professor and a proctologist?"

"I don't know."

"A proctologist only has to deal with one asshole at a time."

Sara continued to giggle. "How can you tell when a biology student is a nymphomaniac?"

"How?"

"Instead of dissecting grasshoppers, she's busy opening flies." Sara tried in vain to control her giggles. "I had to throw a bug one in there for you."

"What horse is found only at night?"

Sara raised her eyebrows in question.

He answered, "A nightmare."

"What do light and hard have in common?" Sara asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Grissom smirked at her. "You can't sleep with a light on, either."

Sara burst out laughing. "I can't believe you've heard that joke."

"I've heard a lot of things."

Sara's laughter slowly subsided. "Well, this was fun. Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about?"

"No. I just wanted to see how you were doing and let you know that you can come to me if this case becomes too much for you," Grissom responded, softly.

"It's nothing I can't handle," she replied, her defensiveness coming back.

"I know you can handle it…you just don't have to handle it alone."

Sara took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm gonna go see how Jacqui is doing on that print." Sara stood and made her way to the door. She opened it and turned to Grissom. "Thank you." She didn't wait for him to respond, she hurried down the hall to the print lab.

"Tell me you got something for me," Sara pleaded as she breezed into the print lab.

"I got a partial and I matched it to the doorknob print you found. It gave me a little more to work with…but not much. We got 420 possible matches."

"Damn," Sara muttered.

"Wish I had more for you," Jacqui said sadly.

"420 possible matches? I'm gonna be here a while," Sara sighed, taking a seat in front of the computer.

"You're a braver women than I, Sara. Good luck," Jacqui said, heading for the door.

Sara dragged her eyes away from the screen. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah. My brother's getting married in a few days. I have a bridal shower to go to this afternoon and a lot of work to do on the wedding. I'm off for the next two days, but if you _really_ need me…don't hesitate to call. I want this bastard behind bars just as much as everyone else.

"Thanks, Jacqui. Have fun." Sara focused back on the computer screen and began searching through the possible matches.

Several hours later, a few hours after their shift had ended, Grissom found Sara still sitting in the print lab. He leaned against the doorway and watched her for a moment before entering the room. He laid one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table. He leaned over her shoulder and looked at the screen. "How long have you been at this?" he quietly asked, his breath tickling her ear.

"A while," was her only replay as she continued searching the matches.

"Have you found anything?"

"I have about ten possible suspects, but I'm only half way through."

Grissom reached over and turned the monitor off. "Go home."

Sara turned her head to look at him just as he was turning his head to look more closely at her. The movement caused their noses to bump and both froze in shock at the innocent touch. Sara stared into his eyes, which were boring into hers. She could feel his breath on her lips, their mouths only inches apart. She expected him to pull back at any moment, but he didn't. He just stayed right there, not moving. She realized something in that moment—he was waiting for her to make the move. That way when he came to his senses and realized it was a mistake; it would be all her fault. She wasn't going to let that happen. The intensity of the moment became too much for her and she turned away.

"I, uh…" She cleared her throat. "I think I am going to head home. I'm exhausted."

Grissom pulled away from her and stood up straight. Closing his eyes he chastised himself for letting the moment get so charged. "I'm sorry, Sara. I shouldn't have…" he trailed off.

For some unknown reason she was starting to become angry with him again. She had no idea why, but the anger was there, threatening to bubble to the surface. "Don't worry about it," she said, continuingly avoiding his eyes.

"I don't want you-"

"Yeah, I get it," she cut him off. "I'm leaving." She hurried past him and out of the room.

Grissom stared at the empty doorway. _Why does she never let me finish what I'm trying to say?"_


	10. 10

Thanks again for the reviews. You guys rock! And before you start throwing things, just remember that it was just as hard for me to write this chapter as it probably is for you to read it. :) So you have fair warning that this chapter may make your stomach turn. Enjoy!

-

Sara exited the lab and headed for her car. Just as she was about to unlock the door, she remembered that she had to give Greg a ride home. She pulled out her cell phone and called him. "Hey, Greg, where are you?"

_"Not far from you," _he replied.

"Really?" she asked, looking around the parking lot.

_"Bet you can't find me, Miss Super Crime Scene Investigator," _he challenged.

Sara started walking back towards the building. "I'm pretty confident I can find you."

_"I'm waiting."_

Sara slowly made her way to the corner of the building. She peaked around and saw Greg leaning up against the wall on the side of the building. "What do I get when I find you?"

_"The pleasure of my company."_

Sara closed her phone and walked around the corner, totally surprising Greg. "I wouldn't say you're company's all that pleasurable."

Greg grabbed at his chest in mock pain. "You're breaking my heart, Sara."

"That'd be a first…I've never broken a guy's heart before," she said sadly, leaning up against the wall next to the young man.

Greg eyed her for a moment. "I don't believe that. I'm sure you've broken plenty of hearts, you just don't know it."

"How 'bout you? How many hearts have you broken?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Sadly, none. I was always the one with the broken heart."

"We're two of a kind, Greggo." She let out a load sigh.

"What's wrong, Sara? You don't look too good."

"Thanks a lot."

"No. I didn't mean it that way, because…damn! You're hot! I just meant that you look, I don't know…depressed or something."

"It's just this case and some other…personal things." She glanced at Greg and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for asking. It's nice to know that someone cares."

Greg turned very serious. He turned to face her, casually leaning his left shoulder against the wall. "I do care, Sara. A lot. I'm always here for you, no matter what."

Sara turned to face him, mirroring his pose. "Someday…some woman is gonna be so lucky to have you."

"Yeah, well, that's someday. You have me now." He looked down shyly.

Sara couldn't help but smile at him. He was quite charming when he was acting this way. He was so adorable that she just wanted to hug him. "You know what I would really like right now, Greg?"

He looked up at her. "What?"

"A hug. I really need a hug."

"Not a problem," he replied. He pushed off the wall and took a step toward her. "You meant from me, right?"

Sara let out a chuckle. "Yeah, from you. Do you see any other fumbling, rookie CSIs around here?"

Greg smiled sweetly at her and tentatively reached out and grasped her waist. He waited a second to see if she would tell him to stop. When he heard no comment from her, he pulled in close and gently wrapped his arms around her waist. She slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid her head on one. Sara wrapped her arms a little tighter, and Greg responded by hugging her a little tighter.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Sara pulled back slightly. Greg flashed her a shy smile and asked, "Was it good for you?"

Sara nodded. "Thank you," she said as she kissed him on the cheek. She started to pull back, but instead she leaned in and brushed her lips over Greg's. He was once again shocked that she had kissed him. Shock soon morphed into pleasure as she continued to kiss him. He gave into the moment thinking again that this had to be some kind of fluke. Sara Sidle would never willingly kiss him on two separate occasions. He was exhilarated by the feel of her tongue—little tingles of pleasure coursed through his body. His hands had a mind of their own as they started to explore her back. Sara slowly ran a hand up his neck and into his hair, an action that resulted in a soft moan escaping Greg's lips. Totally forgetting where or who they were, one of Greg's hands slid under the hem of Sara's shirt and slid along the waistband of her jeans. Sara pulled him closer, before suddenly breaking off the kiss. She rested her forehead against Greg's as she tried to catch her breath.

"Uh…I think I should take you home," she said, trying to regain her composure.

"Damn, Sara!" Greg breathed out. "I haven't even bought you dinner yet."

Sara pushed him back a little. "I meant, I should drop you off at your home and then go home myself."

"You're no fun," he pouted.

Sara took a step back from Greg and smoothed down her clothes. "I think we've had enough fun for one day." She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards her car. "Come on, Rook."

Sara and Greg thought that they were hidden, being on the side of the building, but they were sorely mistaken. Not more than a hundred feet away, Warrick Brown stood in open-mouthed shock at what he had just witnessed. Next to him, Conrad Ecklie's face had taken on an evil sneer.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Hey, Grissom, do you have a minute?"

Grissom looked up from the microscope and at Warrick. "Sure. What do you need?"

Warrick took a step into the room and in a low voice replied, "I need to speak with you in private."

"Okay," Grissom said, clearly confused. "Let's go to my office."

Warrick followed Grissom to his office. Grissom held to door open for him and then closed it. He took his seat behind his desk and looked at Warrick expectantly. Warrick sat down across from Grissom, looking like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He hadn't looked Grissom in the eye since they had entered the office and Grissom was starting to get an uneasy feeling.

Warrick finally looked up into Grissom's eyes and Grissom was surprised to see the conflict going on in the young man's eyes. "I don't know how to tell you this, Grissom. And I really wish I didn't have to…"

"Whatever it is, Warrick, just tell me," Grissom quietly said. "Is it your gambling…" he trailed off when he saw Warrick shaking his head sadly.

"Nah. It has nothing to do with me. I'm good."

"You're starting to make me anxious, Warrick."

"I kinda saw something…and it's not really that big of a deal…but it could be a big deal…and I just-"

"Warrick, please, just say whatever it is you're trying to say," Grissom pleaded, feeling a strange sense of dread.

"Well, you see…the problem is…I'm not the only one who saw what I saw. Ecklie saw it too. And damn! Grissom, I'm so sorry."

Grissom was now very serious. "What did you see, Warrick?"

"I saw Sara…"

Grissom's heart was starting to sink. His mind was running through all the bad things that Sara could have possibly done that would have Warrick this twisted up.

Warrick cleared his throat. "I saw Sara and Greg…"

_Greg? _Grissom thought, confused. _What did Sara and Greg do?_

"…They were kind of in a personal situation…and I saw it and Ecklie saw it. And he got like some sense of evil delight at the sight. I could practically hear the plot forming in his head. I think he's gonna try to fire her or something."

Grissom almost had to pick his jaw up off his desk. He was in such a state of shock. Finally finding his voice he said, "Explain 'personal situation'."

"They were kissing…kinda passionately." Warrick saw the look in Grissom's eyes and averted his eyes to the floor and let out a little groan. "I didn't want to have to tell you this, but I figured you deserved the head's up…especially if Ecklie is gonna go after Sara."

Looking down at his desk, Grissom, in a quiet voice, said, "Thank you, Warrick. I appreciate the head's up."

Warrick stood and made his way to the door. He turned back to Grissom before he opened it. "Let me know when you want Ecklie taken out…I know a few people," he joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. His attempt failed.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Warrick gave one last look at the seemingly defeated Grissom before slipping out of the office quietly. He walked down the hallway staring at the floor. The usual swagger was gone from his walk. _What in the hell is Sara thinking? _he kept asking himself as he continued to walk.


	11. 11

Thanks for the reviews. I guess if you're reading this, you survived the last chapter. Good for you! Things are about to change. :) Due to Catherine's recent behavior on the show, I had a hard time forcing myself to post this chapter as is...but it was already finished, so what the heck.

-

Sara awoke later that afternoon to the ringing of her cell phone. She fumbled for the item sitting on her nightstand and answered groggily, "Sidle."

_"Sara, it's Nick."_

Sara heard the desperation in Nick's voice and quickly sat up. "What's wrong, Nick?"

Nick's voice faltered as he responded, _"It's Lindsey."_

Nick didn't have to explain. Sara shot up out of her bed and quickly pulled on her clothes. "How long?"

"_She never returned from her lunch break. Somehow she got off campus. The principal called Catherine and asked her if she had picked Lindsey up early…and now Catherine's a basket case. She called her mother, her sister, all of Lindsey's friends and their parents. No one's seen her."_

"Who-"

Nick answered before she could finish asking. _"Dayshift is on the case, but it's not technically a case yet. She's only been missing a few hours, but you know that time is critical in these cases. So, we're all meeting at Catherine's, and we're gonna start searching from there."_

"We have to find her, Nick. I don't want to have to process a scene w…" She shook just thinking about the possibility.

_"Don't start thinking like that, Sara. We'll find her. We have to put up a brave front for Catherine. Lindsey's rebellious; she's probably just out getting into trouble. We'll find her." _Nick sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Sara.

"I'll be there in five," she said, as she grabbed her keys and flew out the door.

_"See you then."_

Sara had never driven so fast on a city street in her life. She was pretty sure she had broken just about every traffic law there was. She kept praying during the drive that Lindsey would be found safe and sound. Sara made it across town to Catherine's house in five minutes, just like she said. She arrived at the same time as Grissom, who shot her one of the coldest looks she had ever seen. She brushed it off, figuring he was just worried about Lindsey and Catherine.

Sara and Grissom entered Catherine's house to find her crying in Warrick's arms. Nick, Brass, Greg, Archie and Mia were all standing around her living room, worried looks on their faces. Catherine's mother was sitting on the couch next to her sister. The older woman was crying into the younger woman's shoulder.

Grissom quickly made his way across the room to Catherine's side. She noticed him, released her hold on Warrick and wrapped her arms around Grissom's neck, pulling him in for a hug. "Promise me you'll find her," she pleaded into his ear.

Grissom gently pushed her back, holding onto her upper arms. "I will do everything I can to find her."

Catherine calmed down a little. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. Trying to gain control, she said, "Let's get out there and find her then."

Brass took command. "I've got every available officer out on the street looking for her. Nick, you and Archie take the north side of town. Greg, Mia, take the east. Warrick, you take the south-"

"I'm going out looking too. I can't just stand here and do nothing," Catherine cut him off.

Knowing not to argue with her, Brass continued, "Warrick, Catherine, you take the south side. I'm going to meet up with Vartan on the west side of town. Sara, Grissom, why don't you guys take the strip first and then the rest of downtown."

Everyone just nodded in agreement and gave Catherine sympathetic hugs and shoulder pats as they left to look for Lindsey.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

It was getting to be late in the evening and the team had been looking for Lindsey with no luck. Having looked just about everywhere they could think of, Grissom and Sara were now cruising the hotel parking garages hoping to find the young girl. Every minute that ticked by made Sara's heart sink more and more. She refused to let her mind think that the _Slice N Dice_ killer had abducted Lindsey.

Grissom hadn't said a word to her since they left Catherine's house. In fact, he hadn't said a word to her at all at Catherine's house. She had just chalked it up to his concern for Lindsey, but something was nagging at her, telling her there was more to his silence.

She looked over at him, concerned. "You okay, Grissom?"

"I'm fine," he replied harshly.

"Sure you are," Sara mumbled.

Sara slowed the car in front of the Rampart Casino. Grissom looked out the passenger window and said, "Let me out."

She looked at him confused. "What? Why?"

"I'm gonna go inside and see if anyone has seen Lindsey."

"You're going to talk to Sam Braun," she stated.

"Just stop the car, Sara." She did as told and he hopped out. He leaned in the open window and said, "Why don't you go check the parking garage, while I'm inside."

"Okay."

Sara was on the second floor of the garage when she saw a man standing between two cars. The man appeared to be talking to someone, but Sara couldn't see another person. She tried to appear inconspicuous as she slowly maneuvered the car closer to the man. When she was about forty feet away, she caught a glimpse of who the man was talking to—it was Lindsey.

Sara slowed the car to a stop, while pulling out her gun. She quickly jumped out of the car and approached the pair, her gun pointing at the man. "Don't move a muscle," she said.

The dark haired man looked up and quickly put his hands in the air, a wad of cash falling from his grasp to the ground. Lindsey's eyes were as big as saucers as she threw her hands up in the air as well. It took a second for the recognition to set in, but when she realized who was holding the gun on them she dropped her hands and spat out, "What in the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for you," Sara replied calmly, her body language and voice not betraying how anxious she actually was. "Your mother is worried sick about you."

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "She'll get over it."

"What's your name?" Sara nodded at the man.

"Steve."

"Alright, Steve, I want you to turn around and put your hands on the roof of that car. Nice and slow."

Steve swallowed hard and did as told. Sara pulled one hand off her weapon and grabbed her phone. She hit the speed dial for Grissom and waited for him to answer. "I found her. We're in the parking garage, level two."

_"I'll be right there," _Grissom said, relieved.

"Can you hurry up? I kind of have a situation here. You need to call Brass."

Grissom quickened his pace as he made his way through the casino. _"Are you two safe?"_

"We are for now, but just hurry up and get here."

_"Okay. I'm gonna call Brass right now."_

"Thank you," Sara said, she hit the end button and shoved the phone back in her pocket. "Lindsey, I want you to lay that bag of weed you have in your hand on the hood of that car."

Lindsey crumpled her fist tighter around the baggy. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not a fool. I was young once too."

"Yeah, how long ago was that?" Lindsey asked nastily.

Sara shook her head at the young girl. "You know, you're lucky you're not my kid."

"Thank God for that."

Steve started to turn around. "I told you not to move!" Sara yelled.

"Sorry, lady. I forgot," he squeaked out as he resumed his position.

A breathless Grissom arrived just at that moment. "What the hell is going on here?"

Sara brought her gun down, relieved that someone else was finally there. "I saw this guy selling Lindsey some weed. So I pulled my gun and made him lean against that car."

Grissom walked over to the young girl and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Lindsey, are you okay?"

Lindsey pushed his hand off her shoulder. "What do you care?"

The screeching sound of tires turned everyone's attention to an SUV that skidded to a halt a few feet from Sara. Catherine flew out of the vehicle and to Lindsey's side, noticing with alarm that Sara had her gun in her hands. Warrick hopped out of the truck and stood beside Sara.

Catherine pulled Lindsey into a hug, which she did not return. She squeezed the breath out of her for a moment before pulling her back by her shoulders and shaking her. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, tears beginning to stream down her face. "I have been so worried about you. Do you have any idea what you put me through? I though that something horrible had happened to you. How can you just run off like that with a killer on the loose, who's out there kidnapping, torturing and murdering teenaged girls?"

Lindsey tried to wiggle out of Catherine's grip. "I was doing just fine until your friend showed up." She directed the dirtiest look to Sara.

Catherine, not knowing what else to do, pulled her into another fierce hug. Lindsey rolled her eyes. Grissom just stood by their side, relieved that Lindsey was safe.

Warrick leaned into Sara's ear. "Who's the scumbag up against the car?" he asked in a whisper.

Feeling it was safe now; Sara put her gun back in its holster. "I caught him selling weed to Lindsey," Sara replied in a low voice.

Not a low enough voice, as Catherine pulled away from Lindsey and looked at her astonished. "You what!"

"Uh…check the fist that she's clutching so tight," Sara replied.

Catherine grabbed Lindsey's hand and ripped the baggy out of it. She looked at the weed and then tossed it towards Grissom. "You were buying drugs? Have you lost your mind?" Catherine screamed.

"Like you never did any."

"Where did you get the money?"

"From my grandfather."

"Sam gave you money for drugs? I am going to kill him." Catherine grabbed Lindsey by the arm and dragged her over to the SUV. She forced the girl into the backseat and closed the door. She leaned back against the door and let the tears fall freely down her face.

A patrol car pulled up behind the SUV and Brass hopped out of the passenger side. "Am I late for the party?" he asked trying to lighten the obvious serious mood of the group.

"You're just in time to read this guy his rights," Sara said. "I caught him selling weed to Lindsey."

Brass looked over at Steve, who was still leaning against the car. "Really?" Brass took delight in busting scumbags who sold dope to kids.

Grissom held up the baggy of weed and pointed to the money that was still lying on the ground. Brass waved the officer over. "Officer Kersh, I'll allow you the pleasure," Brass said as he pointed to Steve.

Officer Kersh smiled happily at Brass as he made his way over to the drug dealer. He patted him down and read him his rights. He quickly cuffed him and shoved him in the back of his patrol car. Grissom handed him the weed and the money and he put them in an evidence bag and threw them in his trunk.

"You guys got it from here?" Brass asked.

Grissom nodded. "Yeah."

"I can't wait to book this guy," Brass said as he started back to the patrol car. "Sara, you'll need to come by the station and fill out a statement."

She nodded at the captain as he got in the car. The officer turned the car around and they were gone.

"I better get these two home," Warrick said. He walked around the car to Catherine and pulled her into a hug. She cried into his chest. He pulled her back after a minute and said, "Let's get you two home, okay?"

"Okay," she answered as she stepped back from him. She looked in at Lindsey. "Can you keep an eye on her for a moment while I got talk to Grissom and Sara?"

"No problem."

Catherine walked up to Grissom and immediately pulled him into a hug. "Thank you so much."

He uncomfortably hugged her back. "I didn't do anything. It was all Sara."

Catherine pulled back and flashed him a teary smile. She hurried over to Sara and pulled her into a hug. "I can't breathe, Cath," Sara chuckled.

Catherine let her go. "Sorry. Thank you so much, Sara. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you found her. I owe you so much."

"You don't owe me a thing. You would have done the same for me. That's what friends do…they help you out when you need them the most. If not, well, then they aren't really friends."

Catherine started tearing up again. "Well, I have the greatest group of friends a person could ask for then."

"Take you daughter home and hug her 'til she can't breathe and then ground her until she's eighteen," Sara said wrapping an arm around Catherine's shoulders and walking her to the SUV. Sara opened the back door and closed it after Catherine was safely inside. She watched the truck as it left the garage.

Sara turned to Grissom. "You ready to get going?"

"Yeah," he said on a sigh.

Sara hopped in the driver's seat of her car and waited until Grissom was seated before she started the engine. She looked over at Grissom and noticed that he was holding his right arm funny, like he was in pain. She looked at his face and saw the slight grimace.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You look like you're in pain," she stated.

"That's because I am in pain," he replied.

"What happened to you?" she asked worriedly.

"My fist kind of ran into someone's face."

"I'm sure it was an accident, right?"

"Yeah. My arm just happened to have this strange spasm thing happen while I was standing right in front of Sam Braun."

"You decked Sam Braun?" Sara asked, thoroughly surprised.

"I prefer to say his face ran into my fist," Grissom said with a smirk.

"Wow! I'm impressed! I wish I could have been there to see that."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to see that," Grissom said softly.

"Why?"

"I don't like people seeing me lose my temper."

"I don't know. It could be kind of exciting," Sara said thoughtfully.

"Probably not as exciting as making out with Greg in the parking lot," he mumbled.

_He heard about that? That's why I've been getting the silent treatment all day. Damn him, _she thought. "That's why you're mad at me? Why you didn't speak to me all day? Office gossip about me and Greg?"

"It wasn't office gossip, Sara. Warrick saw you and more importantly—Ecklie saw you. Warrick told me what he saw, just in case Ecklie decided to go after you," Grissom explained.

"Well, he hasn't come after me yet."

"Yes, he has," Grissom said tiredly. "He came directly to my office and started barking orders at me. He told me to fire you. I refused. He started complaining about the case and how we weren't making any progress. That's when I told him to go to hell."

"Bad career move," Sara said, starting to feel guilty.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why?"

"Because after he stormed out of my office, I went straight to the director and told him everything. He seemed to be understanding and said he would look into the way Ecklie was handling things. I also informed him that if they fired you, I would resign."

That last part shocked the hell out of Sara. "You would resign if I got fired?"

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?"

Grissom took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was time for total honesty. "Because…you're the best CSI I have ever worked with. You're almost as good as me and you're only at the beginning, Sara. In a few years, you'll fly right past me. You're an asset to the lab."

"Ah, the lab," she said, disappointed.

"You didn't let me finish."

She looked at him quizzically. "Go ahead."

"If you left the lab, there wouldn't be much left for me there. It just wouldn't be the same with you there. It just wouldn't seem worth it anymore." Grissom looked out the side window not wanting her to see the emotions in his eyes.

Sara didn't know what to say. She looked at him in amazement. He wouldn't or couldn't face her. She turned on the interior light and reached over and gently took Grissom's injured hand in hers. His head snapped around quickly, his questioning eyes meeting hers. "Just checking your hand," she said softly as she looked it over. He let her pull his hand closer so she could get a better look at it under the light. "How hard or how many times did you hit him?"

While her eyes were focused on his hand, his eyes were looking at her face lovingly. "I only hit him once, but I may have directed my anger towards a wall on my way out of the casino."

"We need to get this cleaned up. I don't want you to get an infection."

Grissom shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"You have an open cut and you're still bleeding." She released his hand and turned to pull on her seatbelt. "Do you need help buckling up?"

He reached his left hand over and buckled himself up. "I'm not completely useless, yet."

Sara smiled at him as she maneuvered the car out of the garage. Several minutes later they pulled up in front of her apartment building. Sara unbuckled and hopped out. She turned back to look at a still Grissom. "You coming?"

"This is your apartment."

"Very observant of you. Are you coming in so I can clean up your hand? Or would you rather do it in the car?"

Grissom's brain froze for a moment when she said '_do it in the car'. _He shook that image out of his head and climbed out of the vehicle. He apprehensively followed Sara to her apartment. She opened the door, flicked on the lights and said, "Make yourself at home," before disappearing down the hall.

Grissom tried to quell his natural curiosity by sitting on the couch and staring at the floor. Sara reappeared in front of him, a first aid kit in hand. She sat on the coffee table in front of him and opened the kit. She set the contents on the table and reached over and pulled his hand over to her, resting it on her knee.

_You're touching her knee. She doesn't seem to mind at all. Would she let me touch her—don't think like that, Gil. She's just being nice. She's with Greg now. Deal with it._

Sara quickly cleaned up his wound and placed a bandage on it. She held his wrapped up hand gently in both of hers, her thumbs gently rubbing over the back of his hand. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Grissom met her eyes. "Not bad at all."

They stared at each other for a long moment, before Grissom looked down. "Sara…"

"Yeah?" she replied softly.

"Are you and Greg…are you…I mean, do you…never mind." He pulled his hand away and stood.

She watched him walk over to her window and peer out. She stood and slowly walked up behind him. "I'm not with Greg. We're not dating…if that's what you were trying to ask."

He turned to face her, eyes staring a hole in the floor. "What about..."

"I'll be honest with you…that wasn't the first time we…kissed."

Grissom looked up at her, not even trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.

"I don't know how to explain this to you," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," he said more harshly than he had intended.

"I think I do. You know this case is getting to me. I needed someone to be there for me…"

"I was trying to be there for you."

"That night we found Charlene Burks was just too much for me. The case was eating away at me and then there was that scene in your office…I just needed someone."

"And Greg was that someone?"

"I needed someone to be there for me in a way you didn't want to be. I needed someone to comfort me."

"I never said I didn't want to be with you," Grissom said in the softest voice Sara had ever heard him use.

Sara was momentarily stunned by his words. "But you weren't there," she tried to explain, "Greg was. I went outside to clear my head and he came and found me. He cheered me up, made a little of the stress go away. We kissed. It was no big deal. It didn't mean anything to me."

"So why did you feel the need to repeat it?"

"Same reason. I just needed someone. Sometimes no matter how much you like to be alone, you just need the touch of another human being. I needed comfort and I asked him for a hug…things kinda escalated."

"I don't want to hear anymore," Grissom said, tiredly.

"There's nothing more to tell. We kissed twice. I never slept with him. Greg's a great guy, but he's not the one I want."

Grissom looked at Sara with such intensity, it was almost too much for her. "What _do_ you want?"

She never wavered. "You."

Grissom took a step closer to her, never breaking eye contact. He reached his uninjured hand up and lightly grazed his fingers over her cheek. "I've been trying so hard to reach out to you, to get closer to you. I just didn't know what to do…I still don't," he admitted.

"You're doing fine now," she whispered.

"Sara…" He glanced at her lips and inched his way closer. Before his lips could reach hers, he was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He quickly pulled his hand back and ran it over his face. He jerked his phone out of his pocket and answered it, annoyed. "Grissom."

"Okay, we'll be there." He shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"We have another victim?" Sara asked.

"We have _a_ victim—female body found in a dumpster behind _McDonalds_. Brass said she was covered in cuts."

"Let's get to it then," Sara said, heading for the door.


	12. 12

Thanks for the reviews. :)

-

"I had a feeling this was just a copycat," Grissom said as he took a seat at the break room table. "Thanks to _someone_ informing the media of the details of the case, we'll probably have a few more to wade through in between the actual murders from our killer." He took a sip from his coffee and set the cup down.

Sara let out a miserable sigh and dropped her head onto the table. "I'm getting real tired of this shit. I just want to catch this guy."

Grissom looked down at his watch and thought for a moment. He finally looked back at Sara. "Why don't you take a few hours off? Go for a drive or something…clear your head."

Sara looked up at him. "We have evidence to process from the copycat case."

"Greg and I can handle it. Go ahead. If our guy strikes again, you'll be the first person I call…and we won't touch the scene until you get there." He flashed her a small smile.

Sara looked at him curiously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay…I think I will go for a drive." She gave him a sweet smile. "That cool night air is the best thing to clear your head and wake you up."

Grissom's eyes followed her out of the room. "Drive safely." She looked over her shoulder at him and flashed him a huge smile.

_There it is. That's the smile I've been missing. It's good to see it again…especially when it's directed at me and not someone else, _Grissom thought as he watched her walk away.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You really did wait for me?" Sara asked, passing under the crime scene tape. "Evidence is time sensitive, you know. You should have started processing."

"Well, I told you we'd wait. I try to be a man of my word," Grissom replied. "Although, young Greg here has been chomping at the bit."

Sara eyed the eager young man. "Get to work then, Greggo!"

"Where do you want us?" Grissom asked.

"Greg, start with the perimeter. Griss, do you mind taking the body?"

"No problem."

"Thanks." They shared a look before he walked over to inspect the body.

Sara set down her kit and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. She clicked on her flashlight and began to meticulously search the ground. Her light hit on something shiny, so she knelt down to get a closer look. She picked up the circular object to inspect it further. "_Copenhagen Snuff,"_ she read aloud. "Chewing tobacco…I think Brass is on to something," she said to herself.

Sara pulled her fingerprint powder and brush out of her kit and dusted the silver lid of the can for prints. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly when a full fingerprint slowly appeared. She lifted the print and tucked it safely away in her field kit. A hopeful feeling surged inside her and tore away at her frustration with the case, giving her more determination than ever. She bagged the tobacco can and got back to her searching.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Brass breezed into the conference room and took a seat at the table next to Sara. "Just got finished with Isabella Follmer's parents. They never reported her missing because she was supposed to be going out of town with a friend—Stacy Harlow. I paid a visit to Miss Harlow's parents, and they said they haven't seen her in two days…she's supposed to be on a trip with Isabella. My gut is telling me that Stacy Harlow will be our next victim," Brass said sadly.

"Two girls at once? Could we have two killers?" Greg asked.

"We haven't found any evidence that would suggest that," Grissom answered.

"What evidence did we find?" Brass asked.

"I don't want to shock you all, but I found tire tracks and boots prints, which matched the ones from the previous scenes," Greg said. "And guess what else…three aluminum beer cans…Mia managed to pull DNA, it matched the previous cases."

"I found some more alfalfa," Sara took her turn. "And the highlight of the night—an empty can of Copenhagen, which had one of the prettiest fingerprints on it I have ever seen. I just gave the print to Jacqui, said she'd page me when she found out anything."

Grissom smiled proudly at her. There was a shift in the feeling of the group tonight. The defeated mood was gone and replaced with a new atmosphere of hope. They were close to catching this guy and everyone could feel it. Grissom took a deep breath and began with the autopsy findings, "Cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation. Ligature marks on her neck suggest some kind of rope. I managed to pull fibers from the wound. Hodges said they're from a _Rattler Rope_—a rope used mainly by professional rodeo cowboys in roping events."

Brass smirked. "What did I tell ya? A cowboy."

"It's not like you have to be a cowboy to buy a rope, Brass. Anyone could buy one…maybe he's trying to throw us off," Greg said.

Grissom gave Greg an appreciative look. "Thanks, Greg. I didn't want to have to say it."

Greg smiled triumphantly at Brass. "You're welcome." Brass rolled his eyes at the two men.

Grissom continued, "The vic was beaten, had the 36 cuts, the word sinner carved into her back, she was raped and she had a breast cut off. I found three blond hairs on the body…they matched the others."

"Grissom, we have a major problem," Jacqui said as she entered the room looking totally frazzled.

Everyone turned to look at her. "What's the problem?" Grissom asked.

"The computers in the print lab just crashed."

"The computers in every lab just crashed," Mia added as she entered the room with Hodges in tow.

Archie came flying into the room then. "Grissom-"

"Let me guess," Grissom cut him off, "the computers are down?"

Archie gave him a surprised look. "Yeah."

"Archie, see if you can do anything about the problem. Everyone else, go back to work and do whatever you can without a computer. I'm gonna try to find our fix-it guys."

Mia, Archie and Hodges nodded at their supervisor and quickly left the room. Jacqui looked at Sara and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry. I didn't get a chance to run the print before the crash. We'll have to wait until the computers are back." and with that she left the room.

"Damn!" Sara said. "We're so close to catching this guy. I can feel it. And the only thing standing between us and a suspect is a bunch of damn crashing computers."

"It'll all work out, Sara. Just take a break, relax," Grissom said, rising out of his chair. "I have to go take care of this mess." He headed for the door, but stopped and turned as he reached the doorway. He directed a serious look at Greg. "Greg, I want you to make sure that Sara takes a break. If she so much as looks at a case file, I want you to break her fingers. You understand?"

Greg glanced at Sara, with a scared expression. "Okay," he replied reluctantly. He looked at Sara after Grissom left the room and let out a groan. "Any other person would be stuck between a rock and a hard place, but not me." He let his head fall to the table with a loud thud. "No, not me. I get stuck between a Grissom and a Sara."

Sara giggled at the young man. "It's not that bad, Greg. Neither one of us would hurt you…too bad."

Greg looked up at her. "Thanks. That's comforting."

"Greg, I…uh, need to talk to you about…" Sara didn't know how to proceed.

Greg eyed her suspiciously for a second. "About what happened…with you and me…outside…twice?"

Sara down at the table and began fidgeting with a file folder. Greg reached over and jerked the folder out from under her hand. She looked up at him surprised. "I guess I have to break your fingers now," Greg said seriously. "You touched the file and Grissom said to break your fingers if you so much as looked at a file." He thought for a moment. "Since you touched it, maybe I should just go ahead and break your arm. I don't want Grissom mad at me."

Sara laughed at him. "You might not want Grissom mad at you, but you_ really_ don't want me mad at you. And just remember, I can still hurt you with just one arm."

"Fine. I'll let the file touching slide…for now. But I reserve the right to use this against you in the future."

Sara amusedly shook her head at him.

Greg smiled at her. "Okay back on topic. About what happened…"

Sara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I wanted to make sure that you…I mean…uh…"

"Sara Sidle at a loss for words? I never thought I'd see the day," he teased.

"You may never see another day if you keep it up."

"What you're trying to say is—it was just the heat of the moment kind of thing and that it didn't mean anything to you and that you're not ready to handle a man like me."

"Part of that was right," Sara chuckled. Turning serious, she said. "It did mean something to me, just not what that kind of thing should mean. As a friend, I really appreciated what you did for me. It was what I needed in that moment and I'm grateful that you were there. I would hate to be having this conversation with a stranger."

"Good thing you didn't run into Hodges then, huh?"

"Oh, God! I would never…" Sara's face took on a disgusted look.

"I don't know any woman who would. And the one who would I wouldn't want to meet," Greg joked.

"Seriously, Greg, thanks for being there when I needed you, but…"

"But you long for another. I understand, Sara. I wasn't expecting anything from you. I didn't get my hopes up and you're not breaking my heart. And I have the memories to cling to during all those cold, lonely nights."

"I may kick myself someday for not falling in love with you."

"I doubt it. One of these days Grissom is gonna come to his senses and realize what's been right there in front of him, waiting for all these years…and if he doesn't he's a damn fool."

Sara groaned. "You make me sound pathetic."

"You're not pathetic, Sara," Greg said softly. "You're in love."

"Where have you been hiding all this great insight?"

"I like to have my secrets." He winked at her. "If everyone knew how perceptive I was, it wouldn't be fun to see the looks on their faces when I make some insightful comment."

Sara let out a loud sigh while looking at the clock. "Shift's over. You want to grab some breakfast?"

"Sure. There's not much we can do with all the computers down."


	13. 13

Thanks for the reviews. :)

-

Sara had just flopped down on her couch to relax when she heard a soft knock on her door. She looked at the clock and furrowed her brow, wondering who would be at her door at this time of day since everyone knew she worked nights and slept during the day. She groaned as she got up and made her way to the door. She looked through the peephole and was confused and a little excited to see Grissom standing on the other side of her door. She slowly pulled the door open and said, "Hi."

"Hi," he replied, and that was all he said as he stood there looking at her.

Sara gave him a confused look and stepped aside. "Come on in."

Grissom entered her apartment and stood in the entryway. He seemed nervous and was looking everywhere but at Sara.

Sara sensed his nervousness and said, "Have a seat. Make yourself at home." He took a seat on her couch. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked sweetly.

"Do you have any whiskey?"

Sara chuckled. "Sorry, no."

"Damn!" he sighed dramatically. He flashed her a small smile. "I'll take whatever you got."

_He's just talking about drinks, Sara. Don't let your mind go there, _she thought. She left and quickly returned with two glasses of orange juice. She handed one to Grissom and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch from him. They sat quietly for a few minutes, until the uncomfortable silence became too much for Sara. "So, why'd you come over?"

Grissom set his glass down on the coffee table and leaned forward, resting his elbows in his knees. "I wanted to see you," he answered in a soft voice, not looking at her.

Sara tried her hardest to fight the smile that was threatening to form. "You just saw me a little over an hour ago."

"Yeah, I know. But we were at work. I wanted to see you outside of the lab."

She watched him as he stared at his hands. She could sense his anxiety and wanted nothing more than to get him to relax. "Do you have to be anywhere?" she asked.

He turned his head to look at her. "No. Why?" he asked cautiously.

"You up for a Cheech and Chong movie?"

One corner of his mouth twisted up slightly. "Sure."

Sara quickly put in the DVD and returned to the couch, sitting closer to him this time. She pushed play on the remote and leaned back, finding his arm stretched out behind her neck. She tensed up a little at first, but then she figured that if her neck coming into contact with his arm bothered him, he could always just move his arm. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and fought another smile. He let out a contented sigh and relaxed back into the couch.

Sara giggled through most of the movie and it didn't even bother her that she had to explain to Grissom why some parts of the movie were funny. At first, he couldn't figure out why watching a couple potheads run around doing stupid stuff was funny, but after a while he was laughing right along with Sara.

The movie ended and Sara turned to Grissom. "So?"

"Okay, I admit, it was funny."

"Do I have to say I told you so?"

"No," he replied, lightly touching her hair.

"You want to watch another movie?"

"Sure. What else do you have?"

Sara smiled at him. "I have just the movie for you." She got up and searched through her DVD collection. She turned to him and held up two cases. "I just bought these the other day and I haven't seen them yet. Somehow, it just seems fitting to watch them with you."

Grissom narrowed his eyes at her. "What are they?"

_"Spiderman_ 1 and 2."

Grissom smirked at her. "Okay, put it in. I haven't seen those, either."

Sara put in the first movie and resumed her position next to Grissom. "I can't believe _you_ haven't seen _Spiderman_."

"Well, I work all the time and…I don't like to go to movies alone."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Sara leaned back and once again felt Grissom's arm behind her. She laid her head back on his arm and hit the play button.

Right about the time that Peter Parker got bit by the spider, Sara felt Grissom's hand running over her hair gently. She slowly shifted a little closer to him. His hand abandoned her hair and reached across her shoulders pulling her closer to his side. She relaxed against him and rested her head on his shoulder. His hand found its way back to her hair and gently caressed it, slowly running his fingers through her soft tresses.

As the movie ended and the credits started to roll, Grissom looked down at Sara and realized that she had fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful in slumber that he didn't want to wake her. He gently pulled the remote control out of her hand and turned the TV off. He sat in the stillness, listening to her breathe and watching her sleep. It wasn't long before he drifted off himself.

Hours later, Grissom awoke with a start. Sara was mumbling in her sleep and seemed to be struggling. He gently pushed her off him and tried to wake her. He softly caressed her cheek saying, "Sara, honey, wake up."

Sara let out a scream and bolted awake. She was shaking and looking at Grissom wide-eyed. She quickly averted her eyes from his and tried to pull away from him. He didn't let her pull away though. He tenderly held on to her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and started to quietly sob. He rubbed his hands up and down her back soothingly. "It's okay. I'm here."

Sara reached and hand up and wiped away her tears as her crying subsided. She pulled back from Grissom's embrace with an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry," she said, staring down at her hands.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he replied softly. He reached out and took both of her hands in his. "It was a nightmare." He hesitated a second before asking, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Sara looked at him them. He seemed genuinely concerned and interested. "It's just, uh…this case. I keep having these dreams where the…victims…" her voice cracked slightly, "they're all in my dream and they're blaming me for not being able to…find their killer. They keep saying, 'It's your fault I'm dead. You couldn't catch this guy. There will be more.' They keep saying these things to me over and over again…and every day that we don't catch this guy the dreams get worse." She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "And the last few dreams I've had…there was this man there…and all the girls were pointing to him saying, 'He's the one. Get him.' Only I can't see the guy's face. I just see the silhouette of a man and he goes after the girls and starts doing things to them right in front of me and I can't stop him. Then the girls look accusingly at me, and say, 'You could have saved me. Why didn't you help me?'" Sara looked out across the living room. "This dream I just had, I managed to pull my gun and shoot the guy, but not before he hurt all the girls again. And right before I shot him he turned into some kind of monster."

Grissom didn't know what to say. He knew she had nightmares, but he didn't know how she blamed herself for the bad things that had happened. She was feeling guilty for not being able to catch this killer and spare the lives of other girls. Her self-blame might be somewhat subconscious, but blame is blame—no matter where it comes from.

He reached his hand up and turned her face to look at him. "Sara, it's not your fault that this guy is doing what he does. It's not your fault that these girls are dead. You didn't torture them and kill them."

"But I should be able to find this guy. We should have something that points to a suspect," she said, frustrated.

"We will find him, Sara. _You'll _find him and he will spend the rest of his miserable life in prison. _You will_ find justice for these girls."

Sara flashed him a sad smile. "You seem to have an awful lot of faith in me."

"I do." He reached his hand up and laid his palm on her cheek, his thumb gently smoothing over the drying path of her tears. Sara's heartbeat sped up as he leaned into her, but she was a little disappointed when his lips landed on her cheek instead of her lips. He pulled back and looked longingly at her for a long moment. He was about to really kiss her when her cell phone rang. She grabbed it off the coffee table and answered, "Sidle."

Her face took on a serious look as she listened to the caller talk. "That's great! Okay…yeah, I'll be right there." She hit the end button and turned to Grissom. "Jacqui got a hit on that print."

"We have a suspect," he stated excitedly. He stood up quickly and began to search his pockets for his keys.

Sara grinned at him. "We have a suspect," she squealed. "David Fowley." She jumped up and grabbed her coat from the back of a chair and slipped it on and continued to rattle off what Jacqui had told her. "Twenty seven year old man from Texas. Only priors are a drunk driving charge and an assault charge." She grabbed her keys off her coffee table and headed for the door with Grissom right behind her. "Jacqui also said that that partial I found matched his prints."

"So he's definitely our guy?"

"Well, you tell me. Found his prints at three separate scenes all linked together by DNA," Sara said as they made their way out of her building.

"He's definitely our guy."

Sara flashed him a huge smile as she headed for her car. "I'll see you there." His only response was a nod.


	14. 14

Thanks for the reviews. And a big thumbs up to **_Ginny_** for being the first to point out the little XF references. :)

_-_

"Damn!" Sara exclaimed. She brought her fingers up to her temples and rubbed them slowly.

"Still nothing?" Grissom asked in her ear.

She jumped as he spoke. She was so focused and frustrated that she hadn't even heard him enter the room. She turned her head to the left to face him. She gave him a playful dirty look. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Grissom stood up straight, holding his hands up. "No. Never. The lab needs you. Killing you off wouldn't be a wise thing," he teased.

Sara narrowed her eyes at him and fought a smirk. "Did you or Brass find anything?"

"No," he sighed sadly. "Fowley's last known address was in Reno and that was three years ago. We can't find any information on him for the last three years. No address, no car registration or driver's license, no employment history, no criminal history…nothing. It's like he just disappeared three years ago and reappeared here a week ago."

"Shit." Sara ran a hand over her face.

"Well, Greg and I have a case to get to—a breaking and entering at Jimmy's Video."

"Good luck," she said, turning back to the computer.

Grissom reached in front of her and turned the monitor off. "I want you to get out of here for a while."

She shot him an incredulous look. "What?"

"I want you to get out of here for a while," he repeated.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. Why?"

"You didn't get much sleep. You're tired, stressed. You need to clear your head. Go take another drive."

"I-"

He cut her off. "I know. You're waiting for the call to come in…another tortured and murdered girl. That's why you need to get out of here now. Take a few hours to regroup. _If_ we get another victim, I'll call you." He smiled sweetly at her. "You do have a cell phone, pager…I'll even shine the bat signal up in the sky."

Sara let out a little chuckle. "Okay, okay. I'm out of here." She stood and headed for the door, turning back she said, "But I'll have my kit on the seat next to me and my phone in my hand the whole time…prepared for that call."

Grissom just shook his head at her as he watched her walk away.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Sara had been driving around out in the desert for over an hour. She had just decided to head back into the city when she spotted something on the road up ahead. She slowed down and turned off her headlights. She got a little closer and could clearly see a pickup on the side of the road with its lights on. She slowed down some more. As she got closer she could see someone dragging something out of the back of the pickup. She moved a little bit closer and put the car in park and turned off the engine. She let out a gasp as she saw the man pull a body out of the back of the truck. The man kicked the body a couple times before he climbed in his truck and drove off slowly.

Sara quickly came to her senses and memorized the plate number. She hurriedly started the car and pulled up to where the body was. She threw the car in park and hopped out, rushing over to the body. She knelt down next to the young girl and felt for a pulse, not finding one.

Sara rushed back to her car and sped off after the pickup. She fumbled with her phone as she tried to call Brass. She didn't even wait for him to answer the call before she started talking. "Hey, it's Sara. I just witnessed our suspect dumping a body in the desert," she spoke quickly.

"_Where are you?"_ he asked already heading for the door.

"Right now, I'm following him."

_"Did you get a plate number and vehicle description?"_

"Yeah. Red, early model GMC pickup. Plate number's 1013XF."

_"Okay, I'm on my way," _Brass said climbing into his car. _"I want you to listen to me now—do NOT approach the suspect. You can follow him, but stay a safe distance away. Don't let him see you!"_

"Yeah. I got it. I know what I'm doing."

_"I mean it, Sara. Do not go near this guy."_

"Can you call Grissom and…"

_"I'll call him. Where's the body?"_

Sara rattled off where the body was and where she was currently driving before ending the call. She shoved her phone in her pocket and felt on her hip for her weapon. _Good thing you brought this with you tonight, _she thought as she fingered the cool metal.

Sara discreetly followed the pickup until it pulled into a driveway that led to an old ranch house. She pulled over on the side of the road and exited her vehicle. She walked a little ways toward the driveway and squatted down trying to see anything. She saw the silhouette of the man hop out of the truck and head for the house.

She pulled out her phone and called Brass again. She told him the where she and the suspect were and received another stern warning from the captain. She told him to hurry the hell up and ended the call. Annoyed by Brass' fatherly tone, she shoved her phone back into her pocket. She continued to watch the house; the anxious feeling in her stomach was almost too much to stand.

She stayed in that position – crouched down watching the house – waiting for the police to show up for what seemed like an eternity. She was about to go back and wait in her car, when she heard a gut-wrenching scream. She immediately pulled out her gun and cautiously approached the house. As she got closer, she heard another scream, one she could tell came from a female. She quickened her pace. _Where are the damn police when you need them?_

She crouched down as she walked up to the side of the house. She backed up against the building and edged her way to a window. She carefully peered inside and saw nothing. She heard another scream, this time she could tell it was coming from the back of the house. She warily edged along the side of the house until she reached the corner. She peeked around the corner and saw a man coming out of a cellar. Scared, she jerked her head back. She tried to remain still, and calm her ragged breathing.

She heard the man say several colorful words before she heard a door open and close. She peered back around the corner in time to see the cellar door close with a loud slam. She was about to venture to the door when it flew open and the man came out, dragging a young girl behind him.

Sara's heartbeat sped up as she watched the man drag the girl toward the large barn behind the house. The young girl was screaming and crying, so mid journey the man pushed her to the ground and kicked her a couple times, which only made her cry out more. He angrily pulled a knife out of his belt and held it to the girl's throat.

Sara couldn't take it anymore. She aimed her weapon at the man and emerged from the side of the house. She slowly, cautiously approached the man. She stopped a safe distance away and yelled, "Drop the knife!"

The man looked up startled. He saw Sara with her gun pointed at him. He let out an evil laugh and picked the girl up. He positioned her in front of him as a shield and held the knife to her throat. "Put down the gun, bitch!"

Sara kept her aim steady on the man. "Drop the knife!"

Another evil laugh erupted from the man. He pressed the knife harder into the girl's throat and she let out another scream. "I won't think twice about killing her," he warned.

Sara didn't drop her gun. She kept it pointing at the man. She was prepared to shoot him if she had to. She wasn't about to let him hurt any more girls. She narrowed her eyes at the man, trying to see his face. It was weird. This was a lot like her dream. She could only see his silhouette. She couldn't make out his face. She could see the girl clearly, but for some reason she couldn't see the man clearly. She saw the knife though, silver flashing underneath the bright moonlight.

She tried one more time. "Drop the knife and let the girl go! I will shoot you!"

She heard the evil laugh again and saw the man pull his arm back, ready to plunge the knife deep into the girls' throat. Before Sara realized what happened, two shots echoed through the darkness. She saw the knife hit the ground. She saw the girl fall to her hands and knees and start crying uncontrollably. She saw the blood starting to pool around the man's body. She looked at her gun and saw her hands shaking. It was then that she realized what she had done. She had shot the man. Her arms dropped to her side suddenly like they weighed a ton. She looked down at her trembling hand-holding the gun so tightly her knuckles were white—she let go and watched the gun land in the grass with a soft thud.

She stood there for a minute trying to come back to herself. Finally she looked over at the girl and saw her trying to crawl away from the body of the man. Sara rushed to her side and helped her to her feet. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked her away from the gruesome scene. Sara stopped once they reached the front of the house and set the girl down on the front steps. She took a seat next to her and the girl immediately wrapped her arms around her and cried into her shoulder. Sara laid a shaky hand on the girl's back and tried to quietly soothe her. They stayed like that for a long time, until the girl finally pulled back and started to wipe at her eyes.

Sara continued to rub her back soothingly. "What's your name?" she asked the girl softly.

"Je…Jessica Gillnitz," she replied shakily.

"Jessica, I'm Sara. I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

Jessica started to tear up again. She looked up at Sara. "Thank you." She wiped her eyes again. "You saved my life."

Sara didn't know how to respond. She opened and closed her mouth several times, but couldn't make a reply.

"He…" Jessica choked out, "he said he was gonna take me out to the barn and kill me. Said that's where he put an end to all his beauties."

Sara heard sirens. She looked to the road and saw the flashing lights heading their way. She turned to the scared young girl. "You're safe now, Jessica. You're gonna be okay. He can't hurt you anymore."

Jessica wrapped her arms around Sara again and cried into her shoulder. Both Sara and Jessica looked up startled when Brass's car slid to a stop right in front of them. He jumped out and rushed over to them.

"Are you okay?" he breathlessly asked Sara.

"I'm fine, Jim." She punctuated her statement with a firm nod.

Brass looked at the beaten young girl. She was looking down fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. He looked back to Sara. "Where is he?"

Sara looked down at the ground. "He…uh…he's out behind the house. I had to…uh…I shot him."

Brass laid a hand on Sara's shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'm sure you had no choice." He knew that Sara was going to be beating herself up over shooting someone, whether they lived or not. She was always saying that she couldn't willingly take a life and tonight she had. He let his hand drop from her shoulder and turned to bark orders at the officers behind him. He turned and waved the EMTs over to have a look at the girl. The two paramedics pushed Sara out of the way as they began to check over the girl.

Sara walked over to Brass's car rested her palms on the hood. She dropped her head and let out a long sigh. Brass watched her worriedly for a moment before he went to see about the man she had shot.

Sara stood there for ten minutes, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill down her face. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder as the first tear slid down her cheek. She turned, expecting to see Brass, but was extremely relieved to find out that hand belonged to Grissom. She looked into his eyes and was shocked to see the emotions within them.

He looked at her, so relieved that she was safe and sound. He didn't say a word as he pulled her into a hug, nearly squeezing the breath out of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She could no longer hold back the tears, so she let them cascade down her face. Grissom held on to her tightly and let her cry. He was so happy that she was fine that he decided the scolding could wait until later.

After a few minutes, Sara reluctantly pulled away. She turned from Grissom and wiped the tears away. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked softly, "What happened?"

Sara sat on the hood of Brass' car and fidgeted with her shaking hands a moment. She looked up at Grissom standing in front of her and finally replied, "I was watching from the road. I was intending to just stay there until the cops showed up, but…" She started to tear up again. "I heard a scream. I couldn't just stand there and let that bastard hurt another girl." She took a shaky breath. "I walked up to the house and I heard another scream. I knew it was a female screaming. I peaked around the corner of the house and saw the guy come out of the cellar, then he went back in and came back out dragging that girl." She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "The girl was crying…she wasn't totally cooperating with him, so he dropped her to the ground and started kicking her. I…I couldn't just watch him beat her." More tears spilled down her face. "He had the knife to her throat. He was going to stab her. I had to…I had no choice…I shot him." She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed.

"Sara…" Grissom breathed out. He took a step closer to her and reached his hands out to rub her arms. She let her head fall against his chest as she cried. Grissom moved closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"I killed that man," Sara cried, her voice muffled by Grissom's chest.

Grissom gently pushed her back. He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. She looked down, unable to meet his eyes. "Look at me, please," he asked sweetly. She slowly brought her eyes up to his. It hurt him to see the turmoil in her eyes. "You had no choice, Sara. That sick bastard surely would have killed that girl if it hadn't been for you. You saved her life."

"I know. I realize that…but…I took a life." She looked down again. "I don't know if I'll be able to handle that fact."

Her last sentenced troubled Grissom slightly. He pushed it aside though. "I can't say anything that will make you feel better. I wish I could take it away from you and deal with it myself, but I can't." She looked him in the eye again. "I can promise you that you won't have to handle it alone."

Sara tried to flash him a smile, but her lips couldn't form one. She glanced at the ambulance a few feet away and caught a glimpse of the young girl as they closed the doors and took off in a hurry. She turned and looked toward where she had shot the man. Brass and David were kneeling next to the body talking. She looked back at Grissom, who was looking at her with such concern and adoration. She let out a long sigh. "Can you get me out of here?"

"That I can do."


	15. 15

Thanks for the reviews. You all have been too kind. I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter, but I've been in bed sick for a few days. This is it, the final chapter...I hope you enjoy!

-

"According to Doc Robbins, Stacy Harlow died from asphyxia," Greg informed the group. "Found fibers in the ligature marks on her neck."

"Which were a match to the ones Grissom found on the other bodies," Hodges cut in.

Greg shot him an annoyed look before he continued, "She was beaten, had the 36 cuts, the word sinner carved into her back and she was raped. The blond hairs from her body were a match to the previous ones. The tire tracks and boot prints were also a match."

"The DNA samples you managed to recover from the crime scenes were all a match to David Fowley," Nick added. He looked over a Greg proudly, before turning to Grissom. "And I have to add that Greg kicked ass at that crime scene. Didn't miss a thing. I just stood back and watched."

Greg's cheeks started to turn pink with embarrassment. "It was just another crime scene. It was no big deal."

"I guess so," Hodges said. "Considering the fact that you've investigated what? Like seven almost identical scenes?"

Coming to Greg's defense, Grissom surprised everyone by saying, "When was the last time you were in the flied, Hodges? Do you even know what goes on at a crime scene?"

"I…"

"Why are you even here?" Grissom asked, suddenly realizing that the lab tech was out of place in this group. "This is a meeting for the CSIs and Brass. Please go back to your lab." Hodges quickly fled.

Grissom turned to Warrick, who was trying his best not to laugh. "What about the ranch house?"

"I went through the truck first. Sprayed Luminol in the bed and, man, did that thing glow. Mia is still working on the blood samples. Found a Rattler rope hanging on the gun rack…had blood all over it. It was definitely used to murder those girls. Hodges matched the fibers you found to the rope. And I don't have to tell you that the treads on the truck matched all the ones you guys recovered."

"Well, Sara saw him use the pickup to dump the body, so we already knew that. But it's always good to be thorough."

"I went though the house, it was clean," Warrick continued. "Now the basement that was a different story. It seemed to be where he kept the girls while they were alive. There was a steel cage down there with a padlock on the door. He did some of his torture down there. I found several knives, all with victim blood on them."

"The real story was in the barn though," Nick stated. "Found the missing body parts in a freezer. There was a lot of blood in that barn. We figured that was where he killed the girls. There were a lot of 'tools' that had blood on them. That's also where your alfalfa came from. There was a lotta bales in there. In the hayloft we found the bodies of Mister and Missus Hosteen—owners of the property and the pickup. They were both shot twice in the head with a forty-four."

Brass took his turn. "This guy was something else. He killed the Hosteens, but was kind enough to keep their place going. He kept the dogs, cats, horses and cattle all fed and watered. He even called the vet out last week because one of the horses was limping."

"How long have the Hosteens been dead?" Greg asked.

"About two weeks," Grissom supplied.

"Well, Jessica Gillnitz was doing a lot better when I left the hospital," Catherine began. "She had a lot of bruising—no internal injuries. The doctors had to stitch up six deep cuts. She was raped." She took a deep breath and continued, "Her statement corroborates Sara's statement." She turned to Sara. "Not that we had any doubt, Sara." She reached over and patted Sara on the shoulder. "You did good."

Sara shrugged. "I guess," she replied quietly.

"How does it feel to be a hero twice in one week, Sara?" Nicked asked, teasingly.

Sara directed a dirty look his way. "I'm not a hero."

"Yes, you are," Catherine insisted. "You found Lindsey for me and you saved Jessica Gillnitz's life. You're a hero, Sara."

"I…uh…think I'm gonna head home, if that's okay?" Sara looked at Grissom, her eyes pleading.

"Go ahead," he replied. He watched her leave the room before he turned back to the group. They were looking at him trying not to smile. He ignored them and said, "Catherine, Warrick, Nick, I want to thank you three for coming in and helping us out. I really appreciate it."

"Hey, man, anything for the original team," Nick said.

"Yeah," Warrick agreed. "We're a family. We take care of each other—no matter what."

"Even if we're separated by the evil Ecklie," Catherine added.

Grissom chuckled. "Well, I think we should all head home and get some rest. It's been a long, long night." He sighed and began to gather up the case files in front of him.

"Yeah, let's get out of here, boys. The sooner we get home, the more sleep we'll get. We have to be back here at four." Catherine groaned.

Grabbing the files and standing up, Grissom said, "Actually, you don't have to be back here until seven."

"Why's that?" Nick asked while slipping on his coat.

"I called in a favor. A couple guys from dayshift will cover for you guys for a few hours, so you can get some rest."

"How'd you manage that?" Warrick inquired.

"It seems the Sheriff and the Director are impressed with our work. The media is singing the praises of our little lab and our team."

"Your team, not mine," Catherine said.

"Our teams," Grissom corrected. "I didn't leave you guys out when I spoke with the Director. That's why you're getting the few extra hours."

"Thanks, Griss," Warrick said as he, Nick and Brass tiredly strolled out of the room.

Catherine slipped on her jacket. "Tell Sara if she needs anything, she can call me."

Grissom nodded. "I will."

Catherine patted his shoulder as she walked by. "Take care of her, Gil."

He looked at her over his shoulder and softly replied, "I will."

She flashed him a smile as she walked away. Grissom turned back to see Greg with his head on the table, half asleep. "Get out of here, Sanders."

Greg looked up at him sleepily. "Okay. I'm leaving." Greg grabbed his things and disappeared out the door.

Grissom grabbed his files and headed for his office. He dropped the stack of folders on his desk and fell tiredly into his chair. He leaned back and ran a hand over his face. Through his fingers he saw Greg standing in his doorway. He dropped his hand onto his desk and asked, "What is it, Greg?"

Greg walked into the room and closed the door. He took a seat and leaned forward saying, "I went into the locker room to get my stuff and I saw Sara there."

Grissom looked down at his watch. "She left a while ago. She should be home by now."

"Well, she's not home, she's in the locker room crying. And if I were you…I'd go in there and comfort her."

Grissom looked at him curiously. "Why didn't you try to comfort her?"

Greg took a deep breath and let out an annoyed sigh. "Because she doesn't want me, she wants you. _You_, Grissom." Greg decided it was time to tell Grissom exactly what he wanted to. "You need to get your head out of your ass and go to her. You need to get past all your fears and insecurities and finally admit to her how you feel, because you're not fooling anyone. You love her and she loves you and it's as simple as that."

Though he should have been annoyed by Greg, Grissom was somewhat amused by him. "It's as simple as that, huh?"

"Yes."

"I should just tell her I love her and everything will just suddenly be alright?"

"Yes. She may appear to be a strong woman, but she's not that strong. She needs someone to care for her. She needs _you_ to be there for her. She just needs to be loved. She deserves to be loved."

"I'll keep that in mind, Greg."

Greg smiled triumphantly at his boss. He had a feeling Grissom was finally pulling his head out of his ass. "You should also keep in mind that there are a bunch of guys who would do anything to be in your position."

"Supervisor of the graveyard shift?" Grissom asked, in a teasing voice.

"The object of Sara Sidle's affection."

Grissom's lips twisted up slightly. "Go home, Greg."

Greg hopped up out of his chair and headed for the door. "See you tonight, Grissom."

Grissom shook his head at the young man as he stood and made his way to the locker room. He quietly slipped into the room and found Sara sitting on the bench silently crying. He eased over to her and slowly sat down beside her. She immediately looked away and wiped at her eyes. He reached up and gently pulled her head to lay on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and reached with his free hand to grab one of her shaking hands. "Let's get you home," he whispered into her hair.

Her only response was a nod.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Grissom managed to get Sara inside her apartment just fine, but it was after they entered her home that he started to have a problem. He didn't know how to really comfort her. What if he messed it up? Did she want him to stay with her? What if things got too out of hand? Could he handle it? A hundred questions flitted through his mind. It all came down to one question really—could he really be all that she needed and wanted?

He walked her to her couch and sat down with her. She looked up at him and said, "Thank you."

He looked deep into her eyes and saw the answers to all his questions. Slightly overwhelmed, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She snuggled up to him, craving his warmth.

"How are you doing?" he asked softly. "And don't say you're fine."

Sara smiled. "I'm okay."

He pulled back to look at her and gave her a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

"Really, I'll be fine. I just need to work through it, that's all." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"How can I help?" he asked, his lips brushing her forehead.

"You're here, that's enough."

"I'll be here whenever you need me, Sara."

"What if I need you all the time?"

Grissom pulled back again and cradled her face in his hands. He looked into her eyes and replied, "Then I'll be here all the time."

Sara smiled sweetly at him and laid a hand on his cheek. "What took you so long?"

His conversation with Greg flashed through his mind. "I had a proctological problem."

Sara gave him a funny look, before he continued, "I had my head up my ass."

Sara giggled. "I hope that problem's fixed."

"Oh, it is."

"Good. Can't have a guy running around with his head up his ass."

Turning serious, Grissom said, "You know, we're gonna have to have a serious conversation later about you going after that suspect alone."

Sara sighed and removed her hand from his face. "I know."

"I don't even like to think about what could have happened to you. You could have been seriously injured or…killed."

Sara looked down at her lap. "Tell me something I don't know."

Grissom didn't hesitate. "I love you."

Sara's eyes snapped to his. "Wh…what did you say?"

"That's something you didn't know—I love you," he said as if he hadn't just made some huge revelation.

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. She opened and closed her mouth several times, totally at a loss for words. One corner of Grissom's mouth turned up. "You do a lovely impression of a fish, Sara."

Sara narrowed her eyes at him. "You love me?"

"Yes, I do." He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He pulled back slightly and looked in her eyes. "I've always loved you."

"I…Wow! When you go, you go all the way, don't you?"

"I don't want to waste any more time."

"You want to know something funny?"

"What?"

"I love you, too."

He smiled at her. "And that's funny how?"

"It's not, but I couldn't top the way you came out with it. It was a lame attempt."

Grissom leaned in and kissed her again. "You know, I think we're both over-talking right now."

She gave him a small peck and looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think you're right. We should just shut up."

"My thoughts exactly," he whispered as he kissed her again.

Nothing had changed in the outside world-the city still buzzed along, crime was still happening, people were out living their lives-but inside this small apartment everything had changed in the lives of two people. It was a start of better things, an end to the pain and sadness…a beginning to happiness.

...The End...


End file.
